It's Nothing Personal (45 page)

Grant Hastings handed Mia’s picture back to
Jenna.
 
With his arm extended, he
said, “I’m sorry.”

She kept her hands buried in her
pockets.
 
“Keep it.
 
Maybe one day, you’ll look at it –
look at her – and realize what you’ve done.”
 

Jenna turned and walked back to her
car.
 
Watching her drive away, in
the quietness of a frosty January day, the judge felt the sting of tears.

CHAPTER 70

June
2012

Jenna and Mia, donned in summer dresses and
sandals, met Tom downtown for lunch.
 
Sitting at an outdoor table, sipping ice tea, Jenna could not have been
happier.
 
Tom reached across the
table and held her hand.
 
He admired
his wife.
 
She looked so beautiful
with a light summer tan accentuating her striking eyes.
 
What Tom noticed most, however, was how
peaceful Jenna had become since leaving medicine.
 
Her face no longer appeared strained,
her voice was softer, her frown gone.
 
Reflecting on the contrast from then to now, Tom wondered how Jenna
lasted as long as she did.

“Have I told you lately how pretty you are?”
he asked.

“Yes,” Jenna giggled, “but you can always
tell me again.”

“You look so content and relaxed.
 
It suits you well.”

Jenna leaned across the table and kissed Tom
passionately.
 
Mia rolled her eyes,
but her grin gave her true feelings away.

Life had changed dramatically in the past
six months.
 
Since the day Jenna had
crumbled to Allison Anders, she never returned to medicine.
 
The perks of her salary were gone, but
so was the antipathy and pessimism.
 
Her marriage to Tom had never been better, and her relationship with Mia
had never been closer.

“You want to hear something kind of crazy?”
Jenna asked.

“I love crazy,” Tom teased.
 
“Lay it on me.”

“In a way, I’m almost grateful to Allison
Anders.”

Mia shrieked, “Mom!
 
How can you say that?
 
She ruined our lives for a long
time.
 
She’s an awful, wretched
woman.”

Jenna reached over and brushed Mia’s hair
out of her face, caressing her daughter’s cheek as she pulled her hand away.
 
“That’s all true.
 
The thing is, look how much better our
lives are now.
 
If this whole thing
hadn’t happened, I’d still be stuck in a career I despised, and I’d still be
miserable.
 
As painful as the
lawsuit was, I would have never quit medicine for any other reason.”

“We’re glad you did.
 
Now we get you all to ourselves, right,
Dad?”
 
Like her mother, Mia had
blossomed over the past six months.
 
She was starting to become a spectacular, young woman, with her own
thoughts and attitudes.
 

Tom winked at his daughter.
 
“Right.”

The threesome finished their lunch, happily
chatting over hamburgers and fries.
 

After a wonderful meal, they stood to leave.
 
Before heading back to work, Tom teased,
“So what kind of trouble are my ladies going into get in this afternoon?”

Mia planted her hands on her hips.
 
“Uh, duh!
 
We’re packing for our trip.”

Tom laughed, knowing full well how Jenna and
Mia would spend the rest of their day.
 
In the morning, they were returning to
Hawaii – this time for an entire month and with an agenda.
 
They would be house shopping.

“Mom?” Mia smirked.

“Yes?”

“This time, no fighting with the luggage
Nazi, okay?”

Jenna chuckled.
 
Her outlandish behavior had evolved into
a family joke.
 
She and Mia locked
pinkies.

“I promise.”

CHAPTER 71

At 5 p.m., Jenna and Mia were in the bedroom
packing when Tom came home from work.
 
Jenna had the news on the television, but the sound was muted.
 
Tom came in and kissed her on the
cheek.
 
When she looked up at him,
the video on the screen caught her attention.
 
She dropped a shirt she was folding and
lunged across the bed for the remote.
 
Anxiously, she turned up the volume.
 
She and Tom were locked on the TV.

A reporter stood on the steps outside an
office building.
 
Jenna immediately
recognized the location.
 
A year
ago, she had found herself numb and alone, sitting on those very steps after
her deposition.

The newswoman held a microphone to her mouth
and narrowed her eyes as she spoke into the camera.
 
“We are standing outside the offices of
Silverstein, Howell, and Anders.
 
Prominent malpractice attorneys Lyle Silverstein and Allison Anders were
arrested today on a variety of charges, including extortion and perversion of
justice.”

The video streamed to a clip of Allison, her
hands cuffed behind her back, being placed into a patrol car.
 
Her face was turned away from the
camera, her head bowed.

The reporter continued, “Also arrested was
CEO of St. Augustine Hospital, Keith Jones.
 
The three are accused of devising an
intricate plot to bury evidence.
 
Channel 8 News has learned that former St. Augustine scrub technician,
Hillary Martin, may have exposed more patients to infectious diseases than
originally thought.

“In a court-sealed, videotaped deposition
released today under the orders of Judge Grant Hastings, Martin admits to
sharing stolen Fentanyl syringes with others within her social circle.
 
Those people may also have been carriers
of hepatitis C, along with other forms of hepatitis and HIV.

“During Hillary Martin’s deposition, she
admits to exchanging syringes of Fentanyl intended for patients with
contaminated syringes – ones filled with saline and labeled identically
to the stolen drugs.
 
Anesthesiologists at St. Augustine unknowingly administered the tainted
medications to their patients during surgical procedures, exposing them to
deadly viruses.
 

“Until this recent development, it was
believed that Hillary Martin was the only one whose blood contaminated the syringes
that were later used on patients.
 
Testing done by St. Augustine two years ago focused only on identifying
patients who met two criteria – those who had surgery during the time
period when Hillary Martin was employed and also had a strain of hepatitis C
that was genetically linked to that of Ms. Martin’s.
 
In light of these latest developments, Hillary
Martin’s crimes my have introduced other strains of hepatitis C into the
contaminated intravenous medications.
 
It also introduces the possibility that patients were infected with
diseases besides hepatitis C, including hepatitis B and HIV.

“St. Augustine had previously promised to
provide free, lifelong medical care to all infected patients.
 
In light of this new information, the
number of infected patients could escalate dramatically, possibly financially
crippling St. Augustine Hospital.
 
Keith Jones, Lyle Silverstein, and Allison Anders are accused of
attempting to suppress this information in hopes of minimizing St. Augustine’s
financial exposure to victims.

“Attempts to contact representatives from
St. Augustine Hospital and Silverstein, Howell, and Anders have gone
unanswered.
 
We will continue to
bring you updates on this story as it evolves.”

Mia walked in to the bedroom, carrying an
armload of beach gear.
 
She heard
the last bit of the news story.
 
Her
eyes darted between her parents.
 
“What’s going on?”

Jenna led Mia over to the bed, and they sat on
the down comforter.
  
Cupping
Mia’s cheeks in her palms, Jenna said, “Mia, I think fate just stepped in and
taught Allison Anders a lesson.”

Mia had seen the images of the lawyer being
led away in handcuffs.
 
She knew all
too well the identity of the gorgeous blonde who tried to destroy her
mother.
 
“Is she going to jail?”

Jenna’s voice was smooth and tranquil.
 
“I think she may be.
 
And a couple of other bad guys, too.”

Grinning, Mia said, “It’s Karma.
 
Like that boy in first grade who used to
kick me on the playground.
 
Then one
day, we saw him at the mall in a wheelchair with his leg in a cast.
 
Remember that, Mom?
 
Just like back then, Karma was looking
out for us.”

Jenna pulled her daughter close, melding
their torsos together.
 
She kissed
the top of Mia’s head and whispered into her ear, “Good people usually win,
Mia.
 
Sometimes we just have to be
patient.”

The sound of the doorbell interrupted
Jenna’s moment with her daughter.
  
In her bare feet, shorts, and a tank top, Jenna ran to get the
door.
 
When she opened it, she
gasped.
 
Judge Hastings stood on her
doorstep, with Mia’s photo in his hand.

“Did you see the news?” he asked, solemnly.

“I did,” replied Jenna.
 

The judge shifted his weight.
 
It was odd to see such a powerful man
look uncomfortable and awkward.
 
He
handed the photo of Mia back to Jenna.
 
As he did, Mia came running up behind her mother.

“Hey, Mom, have you seen my blue
bikini?”
 
When Mia saw the stranger
at the door, she immediately apologized.
 
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were talking to someone.”

“I’m just leaving.”
 
The judge headed back to his car.
 
When he reached the bottom of their
porch, he turned back around and smiled at Mia.
 
“You should be proud of your mother.”

The stranger caught Mia off guard, but she
sensed something significant was transpiring.
 
She looked into his eyes.
 
With the wisdom and confidence of a
woman, not a child, Mia said, “I am.”

The mysterious man nodded and walked
away.
 
Jenna and Mia stood in the
doorway, holding hands, and watched him drive off.
 
The judge rounded the corner and
disappeared from view.
 
Once he was
out of sight, Mia grabbed her photo from her mother’s hand.
 
Although it was her most recent school
picture, it looked tattered and frayed.
 
The edges were worn and uneven.
 
Mia regarded her mother with bewilderment.

“Who was that?” she asked.

Jenna squeezed Mia’s hand.
 
“That, my sweetness, was the judge that
gave me back my life.”

Jenna squinted into the blinding afternoon
sun.
 
A single, salty bead escaped
from her eye and traced an erratic path down her cheek.
 
The tear slithered its way to Jenna’s
mouth, where it settled on her lips.
 
She licked it away.
 
For the
first time in years, the saltiness was sweet, rather than bitter.
 
It was a blessed tear of joy.

THE END

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I want to express my
love and gratitude to my husband and daughter who have always been, and will
always be, my biggest fans.
 
They
stood by me through the worst of times.
 
Hopefully, I will be able to repay them someday with the best of
times.
 

Thank you to the countless people who were
willing to sacrifice their time to offer me feedback.
 
To my amazing editor, Liz Parker, who was
never afraid to tell me the truth, and was never wrong about it, either.
 
Your edits and impressions were
priceless.
 
May there be many more
meetings at coffee houses in our future.
 
On more occasions than I would like to admit, you saved me from
myself.
 
I also thank my
stepdaughter, Kim, who gave me not only invaluable editorial advice, but, most
importantly, her friendship.
 
To Don
and Robin, no amount of gratitude can express my debt to you – your
feedback transformed my manuscript.
 

And to my Monday crew: Sharon, Robin, Val,
Sandy, Brittany, and Jay (our ‘honorary’ gal pal) – an unlikely group of
people that learned to love and cherish one another.
 
We all faced our challenges, but the
reward, our collective friendship, was worth the pain.
 
To all of you, thank you for holding me
up when I felt like crumbling, and for encouraging me every step along the
way.
 
To Sharon, in particular, we
came together at the worst points in either of our lives.
 
Over that time, you have supported me,
inspired me, made me laugh, and watched me cry.
 
I wish you and your family nothing but
happiness.