An Affair of the Heart

by David George Richards

  “That’s right,” Barrett said. “And it’s already got to the attention of the national newspapers. One of the tabloids carried a story only this morning, saying how Williams intends to keep his wife’s body in storage until this is all over.”

  “Aye, and there’s Dr Jones’s patient to think about too,” Murray added. “It’s all going to add pressure to their case for an early court date. I think you’ll find that this case is going to get into court a lot sooner than you might think.”

  Dr Jones was completely baffled by their conversation. “But I don’t understand any of this,” He finally managed to say. “Why is Williams keeping his wife’s body in storage? And why would he want to sue us, anyway? We had no involvement in the process of obtaining the heart for the transplant; that was the MRI’s responsibility. And what has any of this got to do with Rachel? She was just the patient. She didn’t choose the heart, she just received it.”

  “Exactly,” Murray replied, raising his finger. “Mr Williams is suing Manchester Royal Infirmary for compensation for making the mistake in the first place, but he’s keeping his wife’s body in storage because he’s suing us, and Miss Carter, for the return of his dead wife’s heart.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Recovery and Shock

  Rachel was recovering well. She was awake, and sitting up in bed. She had a cup of tea and some toast that morning, and now she was looking forward to a full meal at lunchtime. She did actually feel hungry. Hungry and restless. She was eager to be doing something, but she just didn’t know what. She pushed her glasses back up from the end of her nose and looked around the room. Quickly bored of that, she began to move her feet back and forth under the bedclothes, watching the lumps they made moving about. It was so strange. She felt so...energetic.

  She didn’t feel like resting anymore. Now she just felt bored sitting here in bed. Instead, she wanted to get up, walk around, and do something. She placed her hand on her chest and felt for the heartbeats. It felt different; there was no doubt about it. Dr Jones had said that she would feel fitter and healthier. That was to be expected. But not that the heart itself would feel any different in her chest. They all told her that was silly. They were wrong. It did feel different. It felt stronger, eager. It was as if it expected her to be doing something, or going somewhere. She just didn’t know what or where.

  Rachel wondered about the woman whose heart this was. What kind of woman was she? Was she a good person, or bad? And what was she doing when she died? Was she going somewhere? Was there something she wanted to do? It was all so strange, but somehow, exciting.

  Rachel felt talkative, but for some reason that morning, her mother had gone out to find Dr Jones almost as soon as she had arrived. Typical. Just when she was in the mood for a good yap.

  At that moment, Gina was standing with Dr Jones just down the corridor from Rachel’s room. She had pushed the doctor back against the wall and pinned him there.

  “I don’t believe this,” Gina was saying in a shaky voice. Her face was white. “It can’t be true...Tell me it isn’t true!” She suddenly shook Dr Jones by the collar of his white coat. “You knew about this, didn’t you? And you didn’t tell me!” she said, raising her voice and shaking him again, only more violently this time. “How could you let this happen?”

  “Calm down, Gina!” Dr Jones protested. He tried to stop her from shaking him, but she was stronger than he was. “Stop this! Stop it, Gina!” he demanded. “Do you want Rachel to hear us arguing?”

  Gina stopped shaking him, and Dr Jones quickly put his arm around her and moved away from the wall. “Of course we’re not going to let this happen! And I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to worry you unduly, that’s all! I knew that a summons had been served on the hospital, but I never thought that he would actually have the nerve to do the same to you!”

  “He did! He had the nerve!” Gina waved the letter about as she spoke. “We’ve been summoned to court, Dr Jones! It says he wants it back! How can he want it back? Who does he think he is? And what about my Rachel? Doesn’t he know about her? Doesn’t he care?”

  “Don’t worry, Gina. It’s going to be alright! It’s just the ranting of an angry and bitter man, that’s all! No court would ever allow this to happen! They wouldn’t dare!”

  “But we can’t afford to go to court! I only have a part time job, and I get the rest on benefit! I spend most of my time looking after Rachel! How can I afford solicitors and barristers? What am I going to do, Dr Jones? What am I going to do?”

  “You won’t have to pay for any of that! Don’t worry! The hospital will fight this! What kind of people do you think we are? Do you really think we would just stand back and let this happen? You don’t have to do anything, Gina! Just let our legal people deal with this, okay?”

  There was silence while they stared at each other. Gina was breathing hard, the fear showing plainly in her expression. She glanced quickly down the corridor towards Rachel’s room before turning back to Dr Jones, grabbing him by the collar again.

  “Rachel mustn’t know about this!” she said urgently. “I don’t want anything to upset her! Do you hear me? She mustn’t know anything about it until it’s all over!”

  Dr Jones paused before answering. “All right,” he said. “We’ll do our best.”

  Chapter Fourteen

  Battle Lines

  Alex Williams paced up and down in Helen Worthington’s office.

  “Are you sure you still want to go ahead with this?” Helen asked him in a soft, elegant voice. She was sat behind her desk in a big leather chair. She looked very relaxed as sat back with her legs crossed, one heeled shoe hanging precariously from the end of her toes. She tilted the chair back further, and swung it slowly from side to side, tapping her nails on the inlaid wood in each of its arms.

  Helen Worthington was a striking woman. She had worked her way up from legal secretary, to associate, then partner. And now at forty-four she had become the senior partner of the firm. Those who knew her said that her success was due to cunning and a sharp legal mind, others who liked her less called her conniving. All accepted that she was extremely clever.

  To compliment the sharpness of her mind, Helen kept herself fit to the point of obsession. She made weekly visits to a health club, and worked out in her own gym at home each morning. She also dressed well, putting most of her clients and all of her colleagues in the shade. She was undoubtedly beautiful, with green eyes and shoulder length red hair, and a lean, firm body. But above all, she was rock hard and colder than liquid nitrogen.

  “Yes,” Alex said. “I’m sure.” He stopped pacing and turned to face Helen. He was now level with the side of her desk, and could see her clearly behind it, lounging in that big leather chair. His eyes drifted to her legs. She was wearing a black business suit, and the skirt was short. Her legs looked most attractive, clad no doubt in black stockings, he thought, not tights. His eyes moved slowly up to her face, and he stared into her eyes. She stared coldly back.

  “Had a good look?” she asked him, her eyes unwavering.

  Alex turned his back on her. “I had a good look before I met you, Miss Worthington, when I chose you and this firm,” he said, his voice as cold as hers. “I didn’t choose you then because you were the best. I chose you because you were the best for this job. You see, I needed someone who was totally without conscience, someone who didn’t care one tiny little bit about the consequences of what we’re doing. I needed someone who would only care about winning this case.”

  Alex turned around to face her once more. He stepped forward and leaned on her desk, staring back into her eyes again. “You fit the part perfectly, Miss Worthington,” he continued in the same cold tones. “Because you’re like me. Totally heartless. But together we’re going to put that right, aren’t we?”

  Helen Worthington smiled. It was a beautiful vision. “When you brought your account to me last week, I wondered why you had chosen us,” she said in that silky voice. “I kn
ew that your wife had recently been killed, but I had no idea that you were contemplating such a remarkable case. You’re right, of course. If we win, that Carter girl could die. But if I win...Well, with the publicity this case is going to attract, my reputation would be enhanced on an international scale. In my mind there’s no contest. If I had to, I’d shoot her with a gun.”

  Alex grunted. He went back to sit in one of the easy chairs positioned opposite her large desk for visiting clients. “So what does this mean?” he asked her, holding up the letter that she had handed him earlier.

  “Now that I’m sure of your intent, it means nothing.”

  “They’re fighting a joint case and you tell me that it means nothing?”

  “Then I’ll just have to separate them, won’t I? The hospital will soon see the benefit of dropping the Carter woman and her daughter. They know it’s the heart we want, so I’ll just give them an easy way out, and they’ll take it. The Carter’s survive on social security, so without the hospital to back them up anymore, they’ll soon end up with some overworked, underpowered legal aid solicitor. They’ll be easy meat, and I’ll smash them.”

  “And the other hospital? The MRI?”

  “They’ll settle. It’s only money you want out of them. They know they’re at fault, so for them, it’s just about containing the damage.”

  Helen paused, looking closely at Alex Williams. He looked rather thin and gaunt. Haggard, even. He obviously wasn’t eating or sleeping too well. In fact he looked like he had slept in his suit. “Actually, I think you might be the weak point in our case, Mr Williams,” she said to him.

  “You think so?” he replied, eyebrows raised. “And why is that?”

  “Because you’re going to be the ogre in this story. The newspapers and the media are going to camp outside your house. They’re going to paint you as an evil, uncaring and bitter man.” Her voice took on a more mocking tone. “You’re the man trying to tear the heart out of some poor, innocent, young girl. People are going to boo and hiss at you in the street. They’ll throw things at you. By the way you look, I don’t think you can take the pressure.”

  Alex paused for a moment before replying. “They mutilated my dead wife,” he said in a low voice. “My Sarah. They took out parts of her, and then hastily put them back in when they learned of their mistake. And they gave her heart to someone else. How dared they? How did they dare do all that without even asking me?” His voice grew sterner. “I want my wife’s heart back! I’ve arranged for Sarah’s body to be kept in storage. When I bury Sarah, it’ll be when her body is whole again, and not before. Only then will I be able to mourn over her. I don’t care what people might think of me, or you for that matter! I just want my wife’s heart back! So get it for me!”

  Chapter Fifteen

  The White Knight

  Gina had been in despair. Nobody spoke the truth anymore. There was no one left whom she could trust. And suddenly, here was this man she had never seen before, standing there at her door, asking her to trust him.

  Dr Jones had promised her that the hospital would stand by her, that she wouldn’t have to worry about anything. But even he was wrong. The letter had arrived that morning.

  ‘After careful consideration,’ it said, ‘and in the light of further developments in the case,’ it continued, ‘the Directors of the Trust have decided that it would be more beneficial to the hospital if a separate case was now fought.’

  Further developments, more beneficial. Gina knew what all that really meant.

  Why did that small narrow slot in the door deliver such pain?

  “Cowards! Turncoats! You’re going to let my Rachel die!”

  She had ranted and raved. She had torn the letter, and quickly phoned them all up and ranted at them for real. They hung up on her. She ranted some more. Finally, she had cried.

  Soon she was stood at the door. They couldn’t put the phone down on her when she was standing face to face with them, she thought, putting on her coat. She was visiting her daughter at the hospital like usual anyway, so she would see Rachel first, and then she would seek out the cowards who thought it was more beneficial to throw her and Rachel to the wolves.

  She had opened the front door, and there he was, hand raised, ready to knock.

  He was a handsome looking man in his late thirties. He had dark hair and eyes and a sort of boyish grin.

  “Miss Gina Carter?” he asked, questioningly. He had an American accent. “I’m a lawyer, sorry, I mean a solicitor. I believe I can help you.”

  Gina was caught off balance. She hesitated before replying. “We haven’t got any money,” she said, simply. “I can’t pay you.”

  He smiled at her again. “That’s alright,” he said. “I don’t want any fancy fees. I’m offering my services for free. No strings.”

  Gina’s expression grew harder. “Why?”

  He glanced up an down the road as he replied. “Call me a humanitarian, call me a White Knight.”

  “I’m going to call the police if you don’t answer me straight!”

  His grin returned briefly. “Okay,” he said. The smile quickly fading. “My name is Robert McCord. I worked for Alex Williams for a while and we had a disagreement. Now I hate him, and I want to get even. You need help, and I need a weapon to hurt him with. Are you going to invite me in?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  A Pact with the Devil

  “As far as I see it,” Robert was saying as he drove Gina to Wythenshawe hospital, “Your case stands or falls with the first hospital, the MRI. It’s there that the mistake was alleged to have been made.”

  “But it was a mistake,” Gina said, irritably. “Everybody knows that.”

  “Do they? Fine. Give the heart back to Williams.”

  “What?” Gina was surprised. “I thought you said that you were going to help me?”

  Robert shrugged his shoulders as he answered. “I can’t help you if you just give in. That’s the point, you see. It’s a simple case of proving ownership. So if it was a mistake, and the heart was wrongfully removed from Sarah Williams, you lose. But if it wasn’t a mistake, if authorisation was given, then it’s yours, and Williams can go whistle.”

  “So what do I do?”

  “First you have to recognise who your enemies are and where the real fight is going to be.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, Williams is suing the MRI for damages to the amount of a million pounds. You might think that the MRI is in the same boat as you, and that they’re on your side, but they’re not. I’m certain that the MRI will settle near to the date of the court case. They’ll offer less money, but Williams will take it, no matter how small the offer. That hurts you.”

  “Because they’ll be admitting their mistake?”

  “That’s right. That’s what Williams really wants from them. He’s not interested in the money. That’s just persuasion. With the error proven, you’ll be next.”

  “But what about Wythenshawe hospital? He’s suing them, too.”

  “Yes, that’s right. Williams was originally suing both you and the hospital for the return of the heart. That kept you on the same side. But not anymore. Now that he’s dropped the return of the heart from his suit against the hospital and just made it for punitive damages, that divides you. Because now that it’s only money, and not even that much, about a quarter of a million, it invites the hospital to distance themselves from you, and the much stickier dispute over the ownership of the heart. That’s why you got that letter this morning. The hospital can now fight its own case on its own grounds. They weren’t involved with the selection of the heart, and they transplanted it in good faith. So they’ve got a good case, and they’ll fight, and this time Williams will back down.”

  “It sounds so complicated.”

  “Not really, not if you realise what’s going on. Williams has got himself a solicitor called Helen Worthington. I’ve never met her, but I’ve heard of her. She’s a smart bitch, and mean with it
. She’s doing all the preparation work, carefully manipulating everyone to suit her purposes as she gets ready for the main event. You see, Williams is only interested in getting his wife’s heart back. He doesn’t care about anything else. Not the money, not what people might think of him, nothing. So there’s really only one court case that’s going to count, and that’s the one between you and him. All the rest is just clearing the way. And if we don’t stop him, and soon, he’ll have won the case before you even get to court.”

  “But why is he doing all this in the first place? Why does he want the heart back?”

  “Because he believes he owns it, like he believed that he owned Sarah, his wife. He was wrong then, and it’s up to us to prove him wrong now.”

  “So what do we do?” Gina asked him again. “How do I fight back?”

  “Williams is suing the MRI for a million, so we sue them for ten million, or even more. We make it high enough to force the MRI to fight. And we don’t settle, not for anything. You’ve got a lot more to lose than Williams. Sarah’s already dead, and this case is not going to bring her back. But your Rachel is alive and well. In fact she’s doing real fine on this heart. Taking it out will put her life at risk, even if you could find another heart that was just as good. That’s all worth a whole lot more.”

  Gina eyed him carefully. “You were having an affair with this Sarah, weren’t you?” she suddenly accused him.

  The boyish grin briefly returned. “I wondered how long I could keep that from you. Is it so obvious?”

  “Does he know?”

  Robert nodded. “Of course. Sarah was leaving him to come to me when she was killed.”

  Gina became quiet for a moment, thinking. They had arrived at Wythenshawe hospital. Robert drove into the car park, found a space, and parked. With the engine off there was silence in the car.