It's Nothing Personal (35 page)

“Katharine, as you are well aware, this
hepatitis debacle has cost St. Augustine dearly.”

“I’m fully aware,” Katharine responded, her
expression blank.
 
Inwardly,
Katharine’s pulse quickened, fearing where her long-time friend fit into Keith
Jones’ agenda.

Keith lowered his eyebrows.
 
“As you know, every doctor involved in
litigation to this point has surrendered without incident.
 
The lawsuits have been settled
discreetly, and the physicians have been allowed to continue unhindered in
their careers.”

Eager to get to the point, Katharine
demanded, “And?”

Keith’s grin was so sinister, it caused
Katharine to catch her breath.
 
She
did her best to conceal her discomfort.

“There seems to be a little problem with Dr.
Reiner.”
 
Keith searched Katharine’s
face for any hint of knowledge as to Jenna’s position.

“What kind of problem?”
 
Katharine uncrossed her legs and
clutched the armrests of her chair.

Keith stood and paced behind his desk.
 
After several passes, he stopped and
glared at Katharine.

“Jenna Reiner’s in the midst of settlement
negotiations, which is a smart move on her part.
 
The problem is, the attorney from her
malpractice carrier, a Mr. Randy Stevens, and the plaintiff’s attorney don’t
see eye-to-eye on a reasonable settlement amount.
 
I get the impression that Randy Stevens
has taken a special interest in Dr. Reiner.
 
In other cases, Mr. Stevens has readily
compromised.
 
With Jenna Reiner, however,
he seems to have a personal mission to save her honor.”

Katharine intuitively surmised where the
conversation was headed, but chose to play the fool.
 
“What does this have to do with me?”

Keith walked around his desk and sat next to
Katharine.
 
He reached out and
grabbed the armrest of her chair.
 
Katharine glanced down.
 
Keith’s skin nearly touched her arm, and she felt the heat of his flesh
radiate from his hands.
 
Ironically,
the contrast in their skin color, dark black against pasty white, exemplified
the stark contrast in their motivations and sense of honor.

The CEO spoke in a low, soft tone.
 
Katharine was forced to move closer to
him in order to make out his words.

“I know you and Jenna Reiner are personal
friends.
 
I saw you two last summer,
in the courtyard.
 
Jenna Reiner was
crying.
 
The two of you hugged.
 
You know her.
 
What will break her?”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Katharine
said, “You’re mistaken.
 
We are
nothing more than colleagues.
 
I’m
afraid I can’t answer your question.”

Keith walked over to a concealed liquor
cabinet and poured himself a glass of scotch.
 
With his back to Katharine, he asked,
“Can I get you some?”

Katharine’s mouth went dry.
 
“No.
 
Thank you,” she replied coldly.

Taking a drink, Keith turned around and
directed his power and ruthlessness at Katharine.
 
“You know, Katharine, I have great
admiration for you.
 
You are an
incredibly gifted physician.
 
Additionally, you have overcome the burden of being a woman in a
male-dominated profession and have very successfully climbed your way to the
top.”

He let his words sink in.

“Your re-appointment as Medical Staff
President occurs in less than six months.
 
I’ve reviewed your file.
 
It’s impeccable.
 
It would be
such a travesty after all those years of scratching your way to the top, to end
up all for none.
 
So, let me ask you
again, what will break Dr. Reiner?”

Katharine’s gut turned, her mouth salivated,
and she was certain she might vomit at any moment.
 
Closing her eyes, Katharine thought
about Jenna.
 
Jenna, the one who had
always been there to encourage her.
 
Jenna, the one who had never once failed her.
 
Then Katharine thought about her own
family.
 
She was the martyr –
the only one of her six siblings who had escaped the confines of poverty to
rise to the top.
 
Katharine thought
of her mother, sacrificing herself as she tirelessly worked two jobs and
single-handedly raised her children.
 
Now that her mother had passed, that responsibility fell onto Katharine’s
shoulders.
 
She could not let her
mother down.

Slowly, Katharine opened her eyes and bore
into the gaze of Keith Jones.

In barely more than a whisper, Katharine
replied, “The press.
 
She’s
terrified of the press.”

A smile swept across Keith’s face.
 
Not waiting to be excused, Katharine
stormed out of his office, slamming the door behind her.

Silently, Katharine prayed for forgiveness.

CHAPTER 50

The Reiners were enjoying their second week
of paradise.
 
Jenna started to relax
and become her old self again.
 
Sprawled out under a beach umbrella, soaking up the tropical sun, Jenna
heard the muffled sounds of her phone ringing from inside a beach bag.
 
Digging through bottles of sunblock and
beach toys, she found the phone by the third ring.
 
Caller ID displayed “Mountain Anesthesia
Consultants.”
 
Jenna wondered what
would compel her office to intrude on her vacation.

Curtly, she answered, “Hello?”

“Jenna?
 
This is Rob Wilson.
 
I know
you’re on vacation, and I’m sorry to bother you.”

Rob’s voice sounded off.
 
Maybe it was the connection, but Jenna
sensed danger.
 

Jenna stood, walking away from the crashing
waves and the laughter of the beach crowd.
 
“What’s up?”

“I hate to be the one to tell you this.”

Suddenly oblivious to her surroundings,
Jenna could no longer hear the ocean or feel the warm, moist air upon her
skin.
 
Her entire world filtered
down to what Rob was about to disclose.

“Tell me what?”
 

Rob felt sorry for Jenna.
 
Knowing how hard this lawsuit had been
on her, it was anguishing to be the bearer of bad news.
 
He hesitated for a second and then
forced himself to speak.

“We got a call this morning from a reporter,
Kyle Lewis, from the Tribune.
 
He’s
demanding a statement from you.
 
Jenna, you need to call your attorneys.
 
Immediately.”

Jenna’s world spun as she stood alone in the
sand with her phone to her ear.
 
A
child ran by and scattered sand in her direction, bringing her back into
reality.
 

“Jenna, I’m so sorry.”

“Me too,” Jenna said as she hung up the
phone.

Tom and Mia approached her, and their smiles
instantly faded.
 
Jenna’s entire
body was trembling.
 
Mia was
frightened.
 
Instinctively, Mia
threw her arms around Jenna and asked, “Mommy, what’s wrong?”

Looking at her family, Jenna said callously,
“Well, it looks like I made the news!”
 

Jenna watched Tom’s face as he registered
the words.
 
“I need to call Jim and
Nancy.
 

Jenna walked away from the crowded beach and
dialed her lawyer.
 
Nancy answered
on the second ring.
 

“Nancy, what the hell is going on?”

“I’m honestly not sure.
 
Kyle Lewis from the Tribune has called
both Jim and me repeatedly this morning.
 
We are not responding.
 
You
should not respond either, understood?”

“You know I’m smarter than that.
 
Why would the press bite on this
now?
 
You said this would all be
over!”

Nancy reminded herself to keep her calm, for
Jenna’s sake.
 
“What is going on is
that we are miles apart on dollar amounts for settlement.
 
Anders is demanding eight hundred
thousand dollars.
 
That’s higher
than any other demand she’s made so far.
 
Randy Stevens started his negotiations at fifty thousand.
 
He’s playing hardball, and he’s not
willing to budge.

“Obviously, Anders has members of the press
in her back pocket.
 
She can’t get
Randy to budge, but she knows if she puts pressure on you through public
humiliation, you can pressure him to settle.”

“Why didn’t you tell me the negotiations
weren’t going well?
 
You made it
sound like this was a done deal.”
 
Jenna tried to keep her voice down, but she was furious.
 

Nancy responded with remorse, “At first, we
truly believed that both sides would reach a compromise.
 
We didn’t foresee any problems, and we
wanted you to be able to go away and not have to worry about this.
 
Now both sides have clearly drawn a line
in the sand, and Allison Anders just increased the stakes.”

Jenna sighed heavily into the phone, “When
is this story supposed to print?”

“The reporter wanted us to comment by
Wednesday, so I’m assuming it will print on Thursday or Friday.”

Seized by bitterness, there was nothing more
for Jenna to say.
 
Even the distance
of the Pacific Ocean could not hinder Allison Anders from taking yet another
part of Jenna’s life away from her.

The only thing Jenna could be thankful for
was that Mia would be three thousand miles away from home when the story broke.

CHAPTER
51

Jenna, Tom, and Mia arrived home early
Saturday morning.
 
Nauseated and
exhausted from the red-eye flight, Jenna and Mia stumbled up to Mia’s bedroom,
and Jenna tucked her in for a nap.
 
Once Mia fell asleep, Jenna rushed down to the computer and checked for
the story in the Tribune.
 
Nancy
thought it would have been published a couple days prior, but so far nothing had
materialized.
 
Unable to deal with
her mounting anxiety, Jenna called Nancy.

“What do you think is going on?
 
Do you think they’re waiting for
Sunday?” Jenna asked, panicked.

Nancy replied, “I have no way to know for
sure.
 
It’s highly probable that the
Tribune’s editor rejected the story.
 
It’s clearly not newsworthy.
 
There have been no recent developments, and the trial is two months
away.
 
We’ve seen stuff like this
before.
 
Reporters contact us for
comment, and the story never transpires.
 
This is beginning to have that sort of feel.

“Besides, there are bigger stories to put in
the Sunday paper.
 
I know this is
the last thing you want to hear, but all we can do is sit back and wait until
tomorrow.”

For the remainder of the day, Jenna moved
like a zombie.
 
Attempting to
suppress the thoughts of seeing her name in the Sunday paper, Jenna tried to
keep herself occupied.
 
She put away
the luggage, did the laundry, walked the dog, and watched a movie with
Mia.
 
Still, Jenna remained plagued
by her fear of the unknown.

Sunday morning, Jenna woke before sunrise
and proceeded into her home office to check the Tribune’s website.
 
Her hands trembled as she manipulated
the mouse, fearing that around the next virtual corner, her name would
appear.
 
To Jenna’s relief and
astonishment, however, there was nothing.
 
She hoped Nancy was right, and the story would never be printed.
 
Relieved, she slipped back into bed with
Tom, but never fell back to sleep.

Monday morning at five o’clock, Jenna’s
alarm clock blared, shaking her from a fitful sleep.
 
She reached over, shut it off, and
reluctantly got out of bed.
 
Jenna
shuffled through the dark into the office.
 
She felt less anxious after Sunday passed without incident, but was
compelled to check nonetheless.

Jenna clicked the mouse, and the Tribune’s
home page displayed on the computer screen.
 
She could hear her pulse bounding
through her temples as she read the top headline, “Anesthesiologist Disregards
Practice Guidelines in Hepatitis C Outbreak.”
 

“No, no, no!”
 
Jenna nearly jumped out of her
skin.
 
She could barely manipulate
the mouse, but she forced herself to read the text.

The article began by recapping Hillary
Martin’s crimes.
 
The next four
paragraphs provided a heart-wrenching account of Michelle Hollings and how her
life had been destroyed.

Then came the assault on Jenna.

“Prominent doctors argue they don’t have a
duty to lock up narcotics, despite the 2010 operating room theft and fraud by
Hillary Martin.
 
Martin’s diversion
of Fentanyl resulted in the infection of over thirty patients with hepatitis C.