Authors: Lisa Eugene
He
felt a stab of remorse when the memory of his Aunt Bev surfaced in his mind. She’d been his surrogate mom. His parents were both environmentalist. They’d done a good deal of traveling when he was a child, and was always consumed with one cause after another.
His school semesters were spent with nannies and his summers, his favorite time of the year, were spent with Aunt Bev and Uncle Tim on their
crop farm in Virginia. One summer, Aunt Bev had taken ill and sought treatment from her long time local family doctor. He’d misdiagnosed her. She died a few months later from complications of advanced stomach cancer. His Uncle Tim had given up on life and died shortly after.
If only the ca
ncer had been detected earlier…It’d seemed her physician was more interested in retaining her as a patient and collecting her life savings than sending her to the specialist she’d needed. The bitter taste of bile rose up in his throat as he remembered how she’d suffered. It was then that he swore he’d never let anyone suffer like she had. He’d do whatever was in his power to remove the quacks, the incompetents, and the recklessly avarice from the medical profession.
Slipping into the back seat of a yellow cab
, he thought about his interview with Marie. His firm had been working on a potentially explosive suit against a physician in the metropolitan area as well as a popular medical insurance carrier.
A few months ago Mr. Johnson had come to him claiming that he’d sought medical treatment regarding a back problem. His
long time physician had ordered the necessary tests to diagnose the problem. After seeing the MRI report his doctor had recommended immediate surgery. His client’s insurance company had sent their own doctor to review the records and give a judgment regarding surgery, as was policy for all claims.
Apparently after speaking to the doctor from the insurance company
, his client’s doctor had done a complete about face. He insisted that surgery wasn’t necessary and that physical therapy and pain relievers instead would be sufficient treatment. In fact, they’d shown Mr. Johnson the MRI film that demonstrated his problem was a minor slipped disc. His client was now suffering from intractable back pain and could hardly walk. He spent most of his time in a wheelchair. No longer trusting his doctor and fearing for his diminishing health, Mr. Johnson had sought out Wade’s firm for answers and remuneration.
Wade’s firm had their own medical
experts review the films that Mr. Johnson brought in and surprisingly they concurred that the problem was only a minor slipped disc. Wade couldn’t understand how Mr. Johnson could be so debilitated if he suffered from a simple disc problem. He convinced his partners to send Mr. Johnson for an MRI with one of doctors that his firm used regularly.
They
realized that something was terribly wrong when the MRI report showed multiple level disc disease as well as spinal cord compression. His firm’s doctor later confirmed that the MRI brought in by Mr. Johnson was not his MRI at all. There was no explanation for the MRI brought in by Mr. Johnson. Clearly, it had been a recent scan of high quality. But by comparing anatomical markers it was determined without a doubt that the person in the scan was not Mr. Johnson.
Mr. Johnson had requested his original films from
Griffin radiology, the facility where he’d had the scan and the films correlated with the ones done by Wade’s firm. The question was how did Dr. Barton come to have different films on record for Mr. Johnson?
Wade had
had a gut feeling that there was more to this story than a simple mistaken name on an MRI report. His firm hired a private investigator who’d uncovered discrepancies in the bank account of Mr. Johnson’s doctor, Dr. Barton. Interestingly enough a large deposit was made to his account at the same time that surgery was deemed no longer necessary. Also, there had been several large deposits in the account over the past year that came from an untraceable source.
Wade guessed that this doctor was paid off by the insurance company to save them the cost of covering surgery and the potential cost of complications.
Producing fraudulent MRI reports were no easy task. Top notch technology was necessary or at lease high level access to an extensive data base was required. Wade knew there had to be others involved.
He wouldn’t be surprised if other local doctors were also getting kickbacks from the insurance company to save them
the expense of covering costly surgeries. The investigation had come to a dead end with the untraceable funds in the doctor’s account and the untraceable origins of the phony MRI. He hoped that these questions would be answered soon.
How did Marie know they’d been working on a case? Was she just fishing for a story, as she was so good at doing?
He
rubbed his injured arm absently as his cab slowed at a light. He knew he still had a lot of work to do. Smiling, he admitted that he’d had some trouble concentrating on the case over the last few days. He was glad that his arm hadn’t been broken in the fall; his lady doctor had been right.
He wasn’t sure though if it was the throb from his arm or from his
dick that kept him so distracted. He admitted that his episode in the ER was one of the most erotic experiences he’d ever had. He hadn’t been that eager in a long time, and he was a man who didn’t lack for women to share his bed. He had numerous contacts in his cell phone that at a moment’s notice would be at his apartment with their silky legs wrapped around him. None of them though, had ever caused him to almost come in his pants like his lady doctor had the other night. God, he didn’t even know her name.
Thoughts of heavy-lidded emerald eyes and full delectable lips caused him to almost moan in the b
ack seat. He imagined his hand finding its way up her supple neck to pull the constraining band and the forgotten pens from her hair. He guessed that it would tumble and flow just to her shoulders or maybe a little lower. He’d lose his fingers in the tress as he explored the sweet taste of her lips and mouth, and savor her skin as he moved lower. He remembered how her rosy nipples pearled in his mouth and his breath quickened.
He
shook his head in an attempt to scrub his thoughts as he’d done so many times in the last few days. He was sure that the persistent erection he’d awoken with for the past few mornings had everything to do with her. He rolled down the window to let in a gust of fresh air and inhaled deeply.
He’d thought about going back to the ER to find her.
What would he say to her?
From the horrified look of remorse on her face before she’d left the exam room, he would guess that a visit from him was the last thing she wanted. In fact, she’d probably alert security and run away in terror.
The only thing she seemed concerned with was keeping her damned career intact.
He’d been surprised by the righteous passion of her professional rhetoric. It hadn’t mattered to her that the chemistry between them was explosive. He couldn’t believe how she’d turned from exquisitely hot to icy cold. She seemed an expert at erecting that conservative no-nonsense professional façade when she needed it. He knew better. Conservative women didn’t wear black lace bras, and he’d bet a year’s salary that she wore a matching black thong. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat as his pants grew more constricting.
“
Damned doctors!
” he muttered under his breath.
CHAPTER THREE
“
Yoohoo! Yoohoo! Waiter!”
Nina turned to her mother, appalled
as Beth fluttered a heavily embellished arm through the air. Bangles chimed and chiffon swished as she beckoned to the waiter three tables away. The midtown Manhattan restaurant was teaming with a bustling lunch crowd. Businessmen in dark suits sat at large square tables sipping martinis while plotting lucrative ventures. Magnificent floral arrangements adorned the four corners of the room and the high ceilings made the small restaurant seem like a grand hall.
“
Mom!”
Nina warned in an urgent whisper. “Would you stop! He’ll be over shortly.”
“Yes dear, but by then I will have died of old age.”
“And I will be dead from listening to her complain about the wait.” Her father’s voice droned from behind a desert menu.
“You know,
Olga said that this was a wonderful restaurant. She’s the one who recommended it. I’d think that for the prices on the menu we’d get better service,” she said pointedly in the direction of the busy waiter.
“Mom, it is lunch time in the middle of Manhattan on a weekday. Every restaurant in town is crowded and busy. Be patient. The waiter will be with us soon.”
“Well, it’s certainly not his fault. The poor boy is running his butt off. I think if I have a little talk with the management they might be able to give him some help and—”
“No!” Nina and her father
admonished.
Beth Henley drew a hand to her chest, her bangles clattering. She pulled her brightly painted red lips together in a tight line.
“Fine,” she uttered with an indignant toss of her head. “Gang up on me. I’m only trying to help.”
“No one
’s ganging up on you sweetheart,” Robert Henley assured his wife.
“If you say
something the poor guy will probably end up fired.” Nina frowned.
“Don’t
scowl dear, you’ll get wrinkles,” Beth warned. “Besides you look so beautiful today. I don’t know…there’s a certain glow about you. Are you getting laid?”
Nina’s stomach somersaulted as her
mother’s matter-of-fact voice floated to her ears. From the curious looks the people at the next table shot her, she was sure they too had heard her mother’s inquiry. Nina sighed.
Why was everyone so interested in her sex life?
“
Mom! No! Yes!
I mean, it’s none of your business,” she stammered, looking to her dad for help.
“Nina is right. It’s none of our business wh
ether she’s getting laid or not,” Robert said calmly then turned to Nina. “But if you are dear, we’re happy for you. We just hope he’s a nice boy.”
“Not a dud like that
Charles fella.”
Nina exhaled an exasperated sigh as she scanned the room for the closest exits. She was happy when the waiter
materialized at their table; beads of sweat glistened on his forehead.
“We’d like to order desert,
” Robert informed.
“You poor boy. You work so hard,
” Beth crooned sympathetically. “You’re cute. Come sit with us. Are you single? You know my daughter—“
“Mom!”
“Beth!”
“
What?
”
Robert ordered desert, attempt
ing to stifle his wife.
“What about Nina?” Beth asked.
“I said I don’t want anything,” she reminded her mother.
“Bring her a
slice of strawberry cheese cake,” Beth interjected. “You’re too thin. I can see your collar bone. Plus I hear sugar does wonders for the mood. You’re a tad touchy today.” She tsked and patted her hand.
Nina studied her father’s face, noticing that the lines around his dark eyes had deepened and his full head of hair was now almost all gray. He’d retired from his practice two years ago and was now at home with her mother.
He had been so busy with his practice there’d been little time for vacations or simply relaxing.
The couple now took advantage of the time they had together and traveled frequently. Nina knew that her mother must be driving her father crazy
, but when he wasn’t regarding her with tired exasperation, there was a loving tenderness in his eyes. She guessed that after almost forty years of marriage a natural rhythm developed that was ever enduring.
“We have to figure out what to do for your birthday!” Beth announced. “I’m thinking a party would be nice.”
“That’s very sweet Mom, but
absolutely not
,” she protested, thinking about the surprise party they’d thrown for her twenty-fifth birthday, complete with clowns, face painters and bouncers.
Beth’s bridge partners had dressed as Radio City Rockettes, singing off key and doing a strange shuffle-kick about the room that had been painful to watch. Even Olga, who’d recently had her hip replaced had joined in—walker and all. By the end of the evening the fire department had been summoned because the twenty-five tapered candles that Beth had insisted adorn the cake had set fire to the linen table cloth. That episode was followed by the arrival of an ambulance because one of the Rockettes had developed chest pain from her exuberant exertions and had to be rushed to the hospital. And in all the upheaval, Beth was trying to orchestrate a romantic tryst between the birthday girl and one of the hired party clowns.
“Well
, we have to do something.” Robert covered her hand lovingly. “Our baby is turning thirty and we’re so proud of her.”
Nina
squeezed his hand, thinking of the countless hours those hands had spent teaching her how to perfectly suture a wound. She’d stitched and sutured everything in sight, had even stitched all the pockets of his lab coats closed. He’d smiled and praised her technique.
“We just know that you’ll be promoted to senior attending. Washington Memorial Hospital is a wonderful pla
ce to be—we couldn’t be prouder,” Robert continued.
Nina was surprised when Beth reached over and planted a kiss on her cheek.
Despite her mother’s frequent nettling, she loved her dearly.
“Yes we are proud. And
thirty
,” Beth whispered dramatically, “is when it all starts to go downhill.” She grabbed her breasts and nodded to her daughter knowingly. “So celebrate your youth now!”
“Thanks for the warning,
” Nina responded dryly, ignoring the curious glances from the people at the next table.
“
Oh my God!”
Beth shrieked wildly.
Nina and Robert whipped their heads around to see what had caused Beth’s excitement. “I swear to you that’s Wade what’s-his-name. I saw him on TV just this morning!”
Nina’s state of shock was so acute that the floor could have caved in beneath her and she would’ve been oblivious. She followed her mother’s gaze and found herself drowning in a liquid ocean of blue. Vibrant eyes twinkled at her like midnight stars. A billowing heat moved up her body and she felt her skin flush from the intensity of Wade’s steady gaze. The waiter’s return with their deserts broke her trance, and she grabbed for a glass of water, suddenly needing to wet her parched throat.
“I think it
is
him!” Beth squealed, squinting her eyes to get a better look. “Wait till I tell Olga that I had a star sighting. She’ll be so jealous.”
Star sighting? It’s not like he’s Brad Pitt
! Nina mentally scoffed.
“Who the hell is he?” Robert asked, picking up his glasses and trying to peer across the tables. “I’ve never heard of him.”
“Put those down. You can’t see a darn thing with them anyway,” Beth scoffed. “For your information he happens to be a very prestigious medical malpractice attorney.”
“
Christ!
” Robert exclaimed. “A damn ambulance chaser!”
“What time is you
r appointment dad?” Nina asked, trying to change the subject and hoping her parents would grasp the gist of this line of questioning.
“We’ve got some time.” Beth deflated her hopes. “
Oh
, I think he’s staring right over here. The man knows style when he sees it!” Beth patted the back of her red curly updo.
This day
cannot get any worse!
Nina thought as she watched her mother posture and pose like a peacock for Wade Connolly.
“I think he’s coming over here!”
Oh God!
Nina prayed for
a well-timed earthquake as Wade stood from his table, said a few words to the men sitting with him, then turned towards them. She watched his long legs bring him to their table in a few powerful strides. He was still wearing the exquisite dark blue suit she’d seen him in on television that morning, and his face was set in a disarming smile. He towered over their table and Nina cleared her throat, wondering if she’d find the voice playing hide and seek there. She’d forgotten how incredibly tall and broad he was.
Gorgeous and huge
.
“Well what a surprise this is,
” His deep voice wrapped around her insides.
“Indeed.” Somehow she’d mustered
her indifferent professional voice.
“Wade
Connolly
!” Beth exclaimed, clapping her hands with effusive joy when she plucked his last name from her memory. Her voluminous bangles played a loud irksome tune in Nina’s ears. Beth looked curiously from Wade to her daughter. “You two know each other?”
“We were briefly acquainted, yes.” Wade turned to Beth
, but his eyes still held Nina’s.
“Well, Nina, why don’t you introduce
us?” Robert said, eyeing his daughter.
Nina made the introductions and almost gagged when Wade lifted Beth’s hand to his lips in a gallant kiss. “Now I see where
Nina
gets her exceptional beauty.”
Beth giggled helplessly and stopped only when Robert
scowled and asked her if she was feeling ill. She sent him a scalding glare. “We’d love for you to join us.” Beth returned her full attention to Wade, now lavishing sympathy over his injured arm.“Mother, I’m sure Wade is very busy,” Nina interjected, her voice squeaking.
Wade turned to her with a wide grin, obviously loving the fact t
hat she was perturbed by his unexpected presence. “As a matter of fact my meeting was just concluding. I’d love to join you. Besides, it looks like this table is a lot more fun. Just give me a minute.” He headed back towards his colleagues.
“Oh
, this is just lovely!” Beth exclaimed excitedly.
“Oh
, this is just lovely,” Nina exclaimed sarcastically.
Minutes
later Nina watched in stunned disbelief as Wade’s broad shoulders shook with hearty laughter. His deep baritone rumbled in her ears, and she could feel it reverberate throughout her body to tingle her flesh.
Beth was telling the story of
a recent trip to Egypt to see the pyramids. Nina, although she’d heard the story many times, couldn’t help but join in the mirth. Beth related how during her exciting camel ride through the dessert her camel had taken a detour, deciding to tarry while he emptied his prodigiously full bladder. She described how she could do nothing but hang on and squeal as he spent an extended period of time relieving himself. She’d desperately tried to talk the camel into holding it and rejoining the caravan, but, after what seemed like hours peeing, the lazy camel decided to lie down and take a nap.
“So what did you do?” Wade asked, laughter dimpling
the line in his cheeks.
“I just nagged him until he got up.”
Beth shrugged.
“Always worked
on me,” her father interjected flatly.
Nonplussed, Beth continued her story, relaying how the more she
complained, the faster the animal ran. In no time at all they had not only reached the caravan, but her camel was in the lead, seemingly desperate to get back to the hotel.
A wave of laughter flowed from their table
, and Nina couldn’t believe how well Wade was getting along with her parents. Their eccentricity was often an affront to those who weren’t used to their unique brand of humor. Her father, who had been at first disgruntled by Wade’s profession and presence, slapped his back jovially.
The waiter interrupted their laughter to ask if they needed anything else and Robert shooed him away.
“I still think he’s a cutie pie,” Beth whispered to Nina, ogling the waiter.
Nina’s laughter
died in her throat. She was certain Wade had overheard her mother’s comment. Her heart skipped a beat and she cast him a quick glance. The curious amusement in his eyes was unmistakable.
“Beth,
stop it, maybe he’s not her type,” Robert speculated.
“
He’s a man isn’t he? What other type is there? Unless she’s a lesbian! And she’s no lesbian! ” Beth declared to her husband across the table, garnering more stares from nearby diners. She then stopped abruptly, her red painted eyebrows twisted up into her forehead. With uncertainty she turned to her daughter, “Right?”