by Mark Nolan
“Stay with me Hailey, hang on now, keep breathing in and out, you can do it,” Sarah said.
Sarah leaned her head in through the shattered window and carefully administered mouth to mouth resuscitation. While doing so, she sustained small cuts on her arms and shoulders from the broken glass shards. Blood trickled onto her white blouse, but Sarah ignored the pain and focused on trying to keep Hailey breathing.
The emergency paramedics soon arrived and took over. One of them told Sarah, “Your CPR probably saved this girl’s life and your coat around her head may have helped to prevent her from becoming paralyzed.”
The paramedic placed a neck brace and an oxygen mask on Hailey, and then he took a quick moment to hold up Sarah’s coat for her to put on. After Sarah was wearing her coat, the man gave her a quick hug and said, “The world needs more people like you. Thank you.”
“Thank you too for getting here so fast,” Sarah said. “I did my best to help her.”
“You did great,” he said, “You should go into the medical field someday.”
Sarah just nodded and headed back to her car. She was already in the medical field, but she got less respect because she treated the city’s four-legged residents instead of the two-legged residents. When Sarah got to her car she saw a costly parking ticket on her windshield. But she didn’t care, it was worth it. Hailey had stopped breathing, and she could have died. The parking ticket was a small price to pay, along with her shoes that were ruined from standing in the pothole puddle of water. Sarah drove away just in time to avoid a tow truck that had arrived to take her car to the city impound lot. The old saying crossed her mind that no good deed goes unpunished. But she had no idea at the time just how true that would turn out to be for her when Max Vidallen would file a lawsuit against her.
Zhukov finished reading the background report, and he thought about the time when he was a child living in Russia, and a kind doctor had saved his life from a fever. The doctor had never made much money, but she’d had the love and gratitude of everyone in the poor neighborhood where Zhukov had grown up. Zhukov now felt a personal hatred for this lawyer Max Vidallen, and he looked forward to killing him and watching him squirm as he died in pain.
Chapter 37
Attorney Max Vidallen was in court, finishing up his grueling lawsuit against Sarah Chance. The case had been ugly and ruthless. This was the final day of the court battle. The jury and courtroom crowd watched as Sarah was traumatized by Vidallen’s relentless attacks upon every detail of her private life and career.
Sarah felt sick to her stomach. She knew that her insurance company lawyers were also beaten down by the onslaught of legal attacks. They were at the point where they just wanted this problem to go away and stop costing endless amounts of time and money and misery. Nobody at the insurance company was concerned whether or not Sarah’s life might be ruined by the court case. Their attorneys and accountants simply did the math in private meetings and decided Sarah’s fate by the numbers. She was nothing more to them than a statistic on a spreadsheet, one customer out of millions.
This was exactly what Vidallen was counting on, and everything was working out according to his plan. The jury was mesmerized by Vidallen’s dramatic cross-examination of Sarah Chance on the witness stand. Sarah sat there like a deer caught in the headlights as she did her best to answer the endless questions.
“Miss Chance, what exactly do you do for a living?” Vidallen said.
“As I’ve stated several times, I am a veterinarian, and I own a pet clinic,” Sarah said.
“Did you attend medical school?”
“I graduated from a veterinary college that is accredited by the AVMA, the American Veterinary Medical Association.”
“Do you have a license to practice medicine on human beings?”
“No, I have two licenses from the California Veterinary Medical Board. One to perform animal health care, and another to operate a veterinary business.”
“So you are only a pet doctor, you are not licensed to provide medical care to people, is that correct?”
“Yes that is correct.”
“Do you have any training in providing emergency medical care to human beings at the scene of an accident?”
“Yes I have completed Red Cross First Aid, CPR cardiopulmonary resuscitation training and AED, automated external defibrillator training.”
“Did you complete the certified training or the non-certified training option?”
“Non-certified.”
“Therefore, you are not certified to provide professional emergency medical care to human beings at the scene of an accident, are you?” Vidallen said.
“I am trained but not certified, that’s why I called 911 and requested an ambulance,” Sarah said.
“But while you waited for the professionals to arrive you engaged in amateur efforts at medical care, isn’t that true?”
“When Hailey stopped breathing I provided mouth to mouth resuscitation to keep her alive until the ambulance could get there.”
“But Hailey is dead now, so you failed in your amateur efforts to keep her alive, didn’t you?”
“Hailey survived and lived on for several months until she died in her sleep from a cerebral ischemia when a blood clot caused a massive stroke. Hailey’s physician testified here in court that Hailey skipped her recent doctor appointments that might have found the blood clot in time to save her life.”
“But an expert has also testified in this court that her death might be your fault.”
“No it is not my fault. The autopsy found that the blood clot was the result of head trauma in the exact spot where Hailey’s head had hit the car window in the accident.”
“The medical expert said you may have caused further injury to Hailey by moving her head after she was injured.”
“I did not move her head, I did just the opposite. I put my coat around her head to make sure it did not move at all.”
“Do you believe your coat to be a medical device, or is it an item of clothing?”
“My coat is an item of clothing.”
“Your coat is in no way considered an emergency medical instrument or piece of equipment is it?”
“No, but in an emergency you might have to improvise.”
“Let me ask you a three part question to see if I understand what you are saying,” Vidallen said. “Isn’t it true that one: you are not a real doctor, you are a pet doctor?”
“I’ve already stated that I’m a veterinarian,” Sarah said.
“Two; your coat is not an emergency medical device but a nonmedical item of clothing that was never intended for any medical use whatsoever?”
“I’ve already answered that question.”
“Three; you are not a paramedic or certified in emergency medical care but are an uncertified amateur.”
“I’ve never claimed to be a paramedic.”
“And yet you pretended to act like one when Hailey’s life was at stake, didn’t you?” Vidallen said.
“I didn’t pretend to do anything, I carefully stabilized Hailey’s head with my coat so she would not move, and then I gave her mouth to mouth CPR when she stopped breathing,” Sarah said. “Otherwise, she would have died in her car. I saved her life.”
“Perhaps you meant well but isn’t it true that you are not a licensed medical professional and you only rendered amateur non-medical assistance with a non-medical item of clothing?”
Sarah took a deep breath and let it out as she fought to control her emotions.
“I only acted as a concerned citizen who helped in a life threatening emergency, according to California’s Good Samaritan laws.”
Sarah’s attorney stood up and said, “Objection your honor, these questions have been asked and answered. Counsel is badgering the witness.”
“Objection sustained,” Judge Emerson said. “Move on, Mister Vidallen.”
“Yes your honor, I’ll wrap it up right now,” Vidallen said, and he turned and looked at Sarah
the way a cat looks at a cornered mouse.
“Miss Chance, since you brought up the Good Samaritan laws, are you aware that according to Horn v. Watson, the California Supreme Court has held that the Good Samaritan statute was only intended to provide legal immunity to trained professionals who provided certified emergency medical care at the scene of an accident. But it was not intended to provide legal immunity to amateurs who gave nonmedical assistance?”
“I’m not a lawyer, I just helped an injured girl to hold still and keep breathing so she could stay alive.”
“No you’re not a lawyer, and you’re also not a doctor, and you’re not an emergency paramedic, are you?”
Sarah’s attorney stood up again.
“Objection your honor, opposing counsel did not enter the Horn v. Watson case into evidence prior to cross-examination, and he continues to badger the witness with questions that have already been asked and answered.”
Judge Emerson smacked down his gavel and said, “Counsel for both parties will approach the bench.”
The lawyers had a whispered argument in front of Judge Emerson, and he pointed his finger at Vidallen and told him he had one minute to ask one last question. If it was a question that had already been asked and answered, he could be subject to contempt of court.
Vidallen returned to his table in front of the court and picked up a file, opened it and consulted some papers as if he’d found a powerful fact of law there. It was just an act for the jury, but their eyes followed his every move and drank in the drama. Vidallen held the open file folder in front of him and pretended to consult it as he spoke to Sarah.
“One final question Miss Chance, but it is of the utmost importance,” Vidallen said. “Is this a correct description of your actions at the time of the accident? You were not a medical doctor, you were not certified in emergency medical care, and your coat was not a medical device… so you provided amateur and non-medical care with a non-medical item of clothing…Correct or not?
Sarah’s attorney stood up again, but Sarah said, “Asked and answered,” and she turned and looked at Judge Emerson.
Emerson took a deep breath to castigate Vidallen, but the attorney said, “No further questions your honor.” Vidallen then slapped his file closed as if the case was closed too.
“You may step down from the witness stand, Miss Chance,” Judge Emerson said.
Sarah got up slowly, walked on shaking legs and sat down next to her attorney. She could feel every eye in the courtroom staring at her.
Closing statements were made by both lawyers. Vidallen went last, and in his well-rehearsed story, he explained that California law defines gross negligence as, “An exercise of so slight a degree of care as to justify the belief there was indifference to the interest and welfare of others.” He argued that Sarah’s amateur, non-medical efforts were that type of slight degree of care and that she had acted with indifference, not with training and careful forethought.
Sarah and her lawyer had no way to argue with the final closing statement, and that was exactly how Vidallen had planned it. He repeatedly used the words “non-medical, non-certified, pet doctor,” and he reminded the jury that people had testified about how Sarah was a highly emotional person who may have acted rashly and emotionally and therefore unprofessionally.
The jury left the courtroom for some time and then returned with a verdict that found Sarah Chance negligent, and awarded Vidallen and Hailey’s family damages of several million dollars against Sarah and her insurance company. The family had already received millions of dollars from the city government in municipality litigation. But Vidallen had convinced the family to file an additional lawsuit against Sarah Chance too, for more millions, even though it would ruin the life of a woman who had tried to save their daughter’s life.
When the verdict was read, Sarah sat there in shock and looked at the jury with tears on her face. She said only three words, “How could you?”
The courtroom rumbled noisily in agreement as spectators talked among themselves. The members of the jury were surprised at the reaction, and many of them came to the sudden realization that maybe Vidallen had tricked them, and they’d made a terrible mistake.
Someone in the audience called out, “You’d better hope that none of your children are ever in a car accident, because nobody will stop to help them, and that’ll be your own fault.”
Judge Emerson smacked his gavel down and rebuked the crowd, saying, “Order in this court. Remain seated and be silent or I will have you removed.”
Sarah’s attorney patted her on the shoulder and whispered his condolences to her. He saw this kind of thing happen all the time. Honest, hardworking citizens were trampled in court every day of the week. True justice was a rare thing. Victory usually went to those who could afford to pay more for the clever twisting of their version of the truth.
Sarah stared down at the table in front of her and wept. She was financially ruined, completely wiped out. Her career was over, and she would have to close her clinic. She could try to find a job, but with her reputation severely damaged now, who would hire her? Animal hospitals and pet clinics would be too afraid of a potential future lawsuit. She was nearly unemployable in her field of expertise. Maybe she could get a job waiting tables at a restaurant. That was honest work, but it would not earn enough income to survive in the expensive city of San Francisco. And it would not make use of her college degree that had put her so far into debt with student loans.
Judge Emerson read the rest of the decision out loud for the record. Some members of the jury were now wringing their hands as they watched Sarah crying, the Judge and the spectators glaring, and Vidallen smiling.
At the coffee shop in Mill Valley, Ivan Zhukov used his phone to watch the news coverage about Vidallen’s court victory. His phone had an app that allowed him to stream live news from the internet. Zhukov shook his head in disgust at the news story. He felt that lawyers held far too much power, and this country was crawling with them like a plague of locusts that stripped the land clean of assets.
Law schools made lots of money by pumping out more unnecessary lawyers every year. There were not enough jobs for all of them. Many felt that they had to sue anyone and everyone who crossed their paths in an attempt to make a living. Perhaps every adult should go to law school. That way everyone would be an attorney, and who could sue anyone then? Lawyers never sued each other because it would just be an endless filing of papers and motions back and forth. If all people were lawyers, nobody could sue anyone else. Plus, lawyers almost never went to jail. That fact alone would make a law degree worth getting if nothing else did.
Zhukov thought that there was one sure way to cut through all of the legal red tape. Nobody could use a lawsuit to stop a bullet. Now it was time to go and make preparations to kill Max Vidallen. Zhukov would not feel any remorse when he rid the world of the disgusting man. In fact, he almost felt as if he was providing a public service and should receive some kind of commendation or a letter of thanks from the Mayor.
He smiled at his own wit as he drove toward Muir Woods and his next appointment with death.
Chapter 38
While Max Vidallen’s court case against Sarah Chance was ending, Jake Wolfe was still at the cemetery with Cody. The rain had stopped falling, and the sun was peeking out from behind some clouds. Jake had patiently stayed by Cody’s side until the loyal dog was finally worn out from howling and grieving. They were both wet and chilled from the earlier downpour. Jake hoped that now perhaps he could finally persuade Cody to leave the gravesite and get into the Jeep with him. But when Jake tried once more to coax Cody off of Stuart’s casket, the dog barked and snapped his teeth at Jake’s hands.
As far as Cody was concerned, Stuart was his Alpha, and Jake was not, he was just a friend of his Alpha. Cody knew Jake from the many times he’d visited Stuart at their den. Cody had nothing against this man. He appeared to be similar to Stuart in many ways. But Jake was not his Alpha, and he could not give
him orders. Cody would lay here by Stuart until he died of hunger and exposure. He was loyal until death.
Jake was trained to understand this aspect of dog psychology and he knew what he had to do now. It was best that nobody else saw him do it, however. They would not understand the power dynamic between the man and the dog. Cody was no ordinary house pet. He was a trained military war dog, an officer, and a combat veteran. He was intelligent and dangerous, and he would not obey anyone except for his Alpha leader. Jake knew he would have to “Alpha-roll” the dog, show him who the boss was, and assume command.
The Alpha-roll was an extremely dangerous thing to do, even for a trained dog handler like Jake. If he made one wrong move, Cody might bite off some of Jake’s fingers, or maybe his nose or one of his ears. In the worst case scenario, Cody might sink his teeth into Jake’s throat, and that would quickly put an end to Jake’s life. This is where Jake’s training would be severely tested. It was not a move an amateur should ever try unless that person wanted to risk having their face ripped off by sharp fangs. Jake didn’t want to try it, but he knew he had no choice, other than to abandon Cody. And his heart would never allow him to do that. He was now taking responsibility for Cody, for the rest of Cody’s life, no matter the danger to himself.
First, Jake began giving orders to Cody the way he used to talk to his own military dog, back in the day. Cody was accustomed to this kind of military talk, and it would put him in the right frame of mind for the surprise that was coming next. After Jake spoke to Cody for a while, he suddenly grabbed Cody by the collar with one hand and wrapped the lead around his snout several times with the other hand. He started turning Cody onto his back while also placing his body close to the dog’s body and pinning him down, being careful not to harm Cody’s legs.