“Yes. They also have the presenting complaint as listed by the triage nurse and any other information collected during the encounter.”
“Good. I’m flying back to Boston tomorrow morning and will meet you at eight. I need you to take me to where the files are stored so we can get access to a file. I also need you find the nurse who was working the emergency department triage desk the late afternoon to early evening of Mr. Weber’s death. I want to speak with her tomorrow at eight-thirty.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s going on, Mr. McKayne?” Sutherland asked, obviously not used to being on the side of accepting orders.
“Not yet, but if things work out, by this time tomorrow I should be able to tell you everything.”
“Okay. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night.”
Matt stood in the large conference room, staring out the windows, waiting for Mrs. Weber and her attorney to arrive. He hadn’t felt this level of pride in his work for years. He hadn’t tried to call Kate again, knowing that he needed to bring something different to their circular conversations of the past.
His eagerness faded when Mrs. Weber entered the conference room with her attorney. She was the same age as his mother. Her once blonde hair was peppered with gray and she had a kindness to her face that shamed Matt. The problem with winning a case was that it meant someone else had to lose and today that would be Mrs. Weber. He smiled politely and genuinely at her, taking no joy in what he was about to do.
“Thank you both for coming today. Please, take a seat. Can we get you anything, tea, coffee, water?”
“A glass of water would be nice,” she answered, looking nervously around the room.
He gestured to his assistant and took a seat on the opposite side of the table, trying to do everything in his power to make Mrs. Weber feel comfortable for the conversation they were about to have. He had purposefully kept the number of people from his firm down to only him and his assistant, guessing it was probably going to be a painful discussion for her.
“What did you want to discuss, Mr. McKayne?” her attorney asked confidently. Matt glared at the opposing counsel. He was in his mid-forties and had dressed in an overpriced suit that was designed to be recognized for its brand and not the cut and quality of the design. His hair was receding and he had a hungry look in his eyes as he surveyed the scale of the boardroom.
Half of Matt’s passion for medical defense stemmed from his hatred of men like Mrs. Weber’s attorney. They were vultures who preyed on the misfortune of others for their own gain. There were a few who represented those who were truly victims of malpractice, but the vast majority were opportunists. Mrs. Weber’s attorney was a pure opportunist. No malpractice attorney worthy of the title would have taken this case, and Mrs. Weber’s money, with all the expert opinions so in favor of the hospital’s care. If the man thought Matt wanted to discuss a settlement, he was going to be sorely disappointed.
Matt completely disregarded the other attorney and focused all his attention on Mrs. Weber. “Mrs. Weber, the night your husband died you brought him to the emergency department yourself earlier in the evening.” It wasn’t a question; it was a statement, delivered as gently as he could in the circumstances.
Her eyes widened and Matt knew in an instant that everything he’d uncovered was indeed correct. He didn’t wait for her to answer.
“I had our medical experts reexamine your husband’s death. Even if you had convinced him to stay that night when you first came in, he would still have died from the aortic dissection.”
“I tried to get him to stay, but when the triage nurse said it was up to a six-hour wait, Michael refused. I thought because the nurse had checked his blood pressure and pulse that he wasn’t that sick.” It was the panicked explanation of a woman who still didn’t understand what had gone wrong.
“Stop talking, Marion,” her attorney instructed her harshly. Matt turned and glared at the creep and within seconds he shrank back into his chair. Matt directed his attention back to Mrs. Weber, who was crying and trying to wipe away the evidence with the sleeve of her cardigan.
“I know,” he started gently. “The triage nurse remembered you from that night because of how strongly you tried to talk him into staying. You did your best, Marion. There was nothing the triage nurse, you or Michael could have known or done that night to prevent what happened. Just as there is nothing that Drs. Spence and Reed could have done, but they tried—just as you did.”
The woman crumpled before him and Matt could feel no joy at discovering the truth. He passed her the box of tissues he had left on the conference-room table and waited for her, not wanting to diminish her grief by interrupting.
“I just needed it not to be my fault. I wasn’t interested in the money. I just wanted the court to say ‘Yes, it was the doctors’ fault’ so that I would know for sure it wasn’t mine. I miss him so much.”
“It wasn’t your fault, Marion,” he said, as clearly and firmly as he could. She looked at him and he maintained eye contact. “It wasn’t your fault.”
The sympathetic tone in his voice faded when he shifted his attention to Mrs. Weber’s attorney. “I expect you to file the papers to drop the case before the end of the week. I also expect your firm to cover the entire cost of this case. It should never have gotten this far and you and your firm are going to take the blame and shoulder whatever costs have been incurred. I’ll be keeping in touch with Mrs. Weber and if I hear that she has received any type of invoice or attempt to request payment from you I will personally represent her pro bono in actions against you for negligence and misrepresentation. Do I make myself clear?”
“Perfectly,” the man remarked snidely. Although it annoyed him, Matt let it go as he was certain the lawyer had gotten the message.
“You can leave now. I’ll make sure Mrs. Weber gets home.” The man rose from the table and left the room without even addressing Marion Weber. Matt motioned for his assistant to leave and he walked around the table to sit at Mrs. Weber’s side.
“I’m so sorry for my actions, Mr. McKayne. Can you please let Dr. Spence and Dr. Reed know that? I was so lost without him, I couldn’t tell right from wrong. I think even if the lawsuit had been successful I still would have always wondered if I had really been responsible. At least I know now there was nothing I could have done. Maybe I can start to move past that night and focus on the forty-two wonderful years that came before it.”
“That sounds like an excellent plan, Mrs. Weber. I’ll definitely pass that along to Drs. Reed and Spence. They know how much you loved your husband and have no hard feelings towards you. Can I arrange for our driver to take you home?” He rose from the table and helped her to her feet, wanting to make sure she was steady before he let go.
“Yes, that would be very nice. Thank you, Mr. McKayne, for everything today.” Matt was startled when she put her arms up and hugged him, but he instinctively hugged her back, her blonde head barely reaching his chest.
“Let’s get you home,” he said, gently waiting for her to let go before letting go himself and walking her back to his assistant to make the necessary arrangements. Once he was sure she was safely taken care of, he went back to the conference room to pick up his files. He paused and glanced out over the Boston skyline. He had been the type of man he wanted to be today. Kate had done that.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SHE STILL WASN’T answering her phone. Matt walked through the lobby of Boston General, searching for Kate. He didn’t want to page her in case she was operating, but he also wanted to see and talk to her as soon as possible. The past days without her had seemed almost as long as the nine years they had been apart. He had discovered the motivation behind Mrs. Weber’s actions and now he was determined to do the same with Kate.
If she wasn’t with a patient, she would be with Chloe, he thought to himself. He went to the admitting office and turned on the charm to get Chloe’s room information. He was surprised to be directed towards the obstetrics ward
and verified the information twice, before departing for the fourth-floor unit. The pink and blue pastel walls of the unit were different from anywhere else he had seen in the hospital. He made his way towards the front desk and the unit clerk seated at it.
“I’m looking for room 4501.”
“Dr. Darcy is not having any visitors,” the clerk replied, not needing to reference the room number with the patient bed list. This was obviously not the first time she had delivered this news.
“Can you please ask her if she would be willing to see Matt McKayne?” He smiled warmly and smoothly at the clerk, using his charms again, and she seemed to have a change of heart, rounding the desk to go check with Chloe.
‘I know Kate better than anyone,’ Chloe had said the first and only time they had met. Maybe if he couldn’t find Kate, he could start searching for answers with Chloe.
“Dr. Darcy said you can go ahead—last room on the left at the end of the hall.”
He walked into the room and was taken aback at the sight of Chloe. The feisty redhead he had met in Tate’s office had been replaced by a fragile-looking woman in a hospital bed.
“It’s not contagious.” She laughed, attuned to his reaction. The action made her grab at her stomach and groan with regret.
She’s still there, he thought to himself, and walked into the room, shutting the door and taking the chair by her bed. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Like I got hit by a bus, thank you for asking. Why are you really here, Matt?” She was direct and completely disarming.
“I was looking for Kate, or at the least some information about Kate.” Chloe would see through anything other than the truth and he had nothing to lose or hide.
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” she asked without scorn. Chloe had obviously gained some knowledge about his and Kate’s past together since they’d first met a few weeks ago. He wanted and needed to know what Kate had told her, how Kate was seeing things.
“What do you mean, Chloe?”
With not insignificant effort she pushed herself up on the hospital bed until she was sitting upright and staring him directly in the eye. “I mean that Kate was really messed up when we first met at Columbia and I won’t let that happen again.”
“Columbia?” Matt felt all the air leave the room and he stared at Chloe, waiting for her to correct her error.
“Yes, Columbia. We both went to medical school at Columbia University in New York City. I believe you are familiar with the institution, given that’s where you apparently went to law school?”
Chloe was staring at him, eyebrows arched, waiting for a response. He didn’t have one. Kate had gone to Columbia for medical school. She had been there the entire time. When he’d thought he’d heard her voice or seen her on campus, he had. When he’d seen the woman in the coffee shop who had reminded him so much of her that he’d had to leave, it had to have been her. She had found a way for them to be together and he had taken the now seemingly easy route and ruined it. She had been stronger than he had given her credit for. She had also probably been strong enough to survive his family, he just hadn’t believed in her the same way she had obviously believed in him.
The other night he had vowed to her that if she had been in New York, nothing would have kept him from her, but she had been in New York, at Columbia. He had deserved that slap. He actually deserved much worse and he now completely understood why Kate didn’t trust him.
“Matt? Matt?” Chloe’s voice broke through his thoughts. “Hello-o-o, are you all right?”
“I didn’t know,” he responded absently. He had come for answers and he had gotten them. He looked at Chloe and felt grateful for her help amidst his shock. “Thank you, Chloe.”
He walked out of the hospital room while a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions charged through his mind. He would never forgive himself for what he had done, so how could he expect Kate to?
Kate walked through the corridors of Boston General with more foreboding than she had the afternoon Matt had walked back into her life. Once again she was being summoned to a meeting with the hospital’s senior administrators and this time she didn’t waste what little energy she had left worrying about the reason behind the last-minute request.
She reached the corridor outside the main boardroom and saw Tate leaning against the wall, looking equally as unimpressed with the circumstances.
“Do you know what this is about?” he asked, apparently having received no more information than she had.
“No idea,” she sighed, coming to a stop beside him.
“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.” He led the way into the room where it had all begun. The conference room was filled with all the same men, except that Matt wasn’t there. She immediately felt crushing disappointment. Her heart and mind were still trying to relearn to live without him, while at the same time she felt angry at herself for loving someone so deeply who had proved repeatedly how little he loved her back.
“Take a seat, Drs. Reed and Spence,” Jeff invited them both. This time they took chairs side by side, united in whatever was about to occur. “We have some information we would like to share with you.”
She held her breath and braced herself for whatever was about to be said. Her personal life was in a shambles and she felt like her career was hanging by a precarious thread.
“Tate, Kate,” Dr. Williamson started. “I am pleased to inform you that the Weber family has dropped the lawsuit against Boston General and yourselves. They have also agreed to sign an agreement against any future legal action.”
Kate felt her jaw drop and quickly looked at Tate for confirmation. He looked equally as surprised and she knew then she had not been wrong in what she had just heard.
“Why the change of heart?” Tate asked the group.
Sutherland answered, “Mr. McKayne discovered some information that helped him understand Mrs. Weber’s motivation behind the lawsuit. He met with her this afternoon and after discussing the events of the evening and the medical expert reviews, she no longer felt there was any negligence involved.”
Matt had done this. Pride and pain filled her at the same time. He had saved her from what would have been a permanent mark on her career and he hadn’t even bothered to tell her himself. Maybe this was his goodbye?
“Thank you all. We appreciate your support throughout this matter,” Tate said to the group. She should probably say something similar but no words came to mind and she sat there mutely.
“We value both of you and the work you do for this hospital. We strongly hope, Kate, that you’ll consider returning to a staff position once you have completed your fellowship.” Dr. Williamson’s attention was directly focused on her.
A staff position at Boston General was the job she had wanted for the past five years but in the past six months she had forced herself to give up dreaming about it. After her breakup with Tate she had ruled it out as a possibility. She had been crushed, knowing she was going to have to leave Boston General, the city itself, and especially Chloe, who had accepted a staff position in the emergency department.
“There is nothing I would like more,” she answered, but in her heart she knew there was something she wanted much, much more.
“Then consider it a done deal. Now, if you’ll excuse us, I think we all have work to do.” Dr. Williamson rose and the other men followed suit, leaving the conference room. Kate stood from her chair, her mind still reeling from the events.
“Congratulations, Kate.” Tate was smiling at her, but she was still trying to process the developments of the past ten minutes.
“Thanks,” she mumbled in return. The lawsuit was over and she had received the job offer she had desperately been working towards, but it wasn’t enough. With Matt she remembered what it was like to be happy, even for one night, and nothing felt as it should without him.
When she looked back at Tate his expression had changed. He seemed to be analyzing her with almost as much scr
utiny as she had been assessing herself internally. “I take it you’re no closer to figuring things out with Matt than the last time we talked?”
“He’s gone.” She replied with the only fact she was sure of.
“I don’t think so, Kate. It sounds like he’s still around, judging from our meeting today.” Whose side was Tate on? She felt resentment towards both men. She was tired of all the presumptions being made on her behalf. She was going to spend the rest of her life loving a man she couldn’t trust and never finding that sense of happiness again.
“I’m too hurt to feel gratitude towards him right now, Tate, so don’t ask me to.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it. What I am going to ask you to do is to go home. You have barely slept or been outside this building since Chloe got sick.”
“Is this your way of telling me I look like hell?” Kate replied, a small smile at the corner of her lips.
“No. But I think if you tried to stay with Chloe again tonight, you would worry her more than you would help her.”
It was odd, this new relationship with Tate. In almost every way it was new, except that it felt old and comfortable. It was true friendship and instead of their past intimacy making things awkward, it allowed for more honesty between them.
“You’re right. She said the same thing last night. I give in. I’m lucky to have you both in my life, and in case you didn’t realize it, you are both officially stuck with me.”
She walked along the cement sidewalks towards home. The sun was out and the birch trees that lined the street were starting to show signs of spring. She smiled, feeling some peace at knowing this was not going to be her last spring in Boston, just one of many to come. It was going to be hard to go back to New York for her fellowship, but it was going to be worth it. Devoting her career to helping women with breast cancer would at least lay one of her demons to rest.
She had no idea where Matt was going to be or even where he was now. Was he going to stay in Boston, go back to New York, or was there somewhere else in the world where he spent his time? It was going to haunt her, not knowing where he was. She didn’t want to have to worry about any more accidental encounters that would cause a resurfacing of feelings she wanted to move past. Still, she refused to call him, not again. She had finally said her goodbye.
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