Unchained Memories (15 page)

Gina sat at the kitchen table, scanning the front page of the newspaper before her, while her mother moved around the kitchen getting her juice, making eggs, toasting some bread, and setting the table. Of course, Gina couldn’t turn the page of the paper, nor could she eat what was placed in front of her until her mother was ready to feed her.

Charlotte shifted in her chair, feeling the discomfort of watching these private moments in someone else’s life, as if a voyeur, feeding her curiosity by observing someone else’s embarrassed helplessness. The things we all take for granted; using our hands and feet to move us through the trivialities of life. Gina had to wait for her mother to provide. What took most of us less than an hour to accomplish before heading out the door, took Gina over two, all the while waiting patiently, or maybe impatiently, for someone else to do it for her.

When Gina attended class, she brought her sister to take notes. When she had therapy appointments, her mother or father accompanied her. The time it took to get from the house, out of the wheelchair into the car, out of the car into the wheelchair, and to the appointed place would have frustrated even the most tolerant person.

What had to be worse was the loss of self-sufficiency, independence, and control over every aspect of your life. Having the intellect of a young adult and being taken care of like a baby had to be humiliating.

Charlotte grabbed a tissue and dabbed at her eyes.

Gina now sat in front of the camera in her backyard, responding to questions asked by her interviewer, which Charlotte had prepared.

“Do you ever go out with friends and do the things you used to do?”

“I used to accept invitations here and there from my old friends. They’ve been great.” She smiled, a gorgeous smile, showing straight white teeth. Her long blonde hair and clear blue eyes highlighted her peachy complexion. If you only concentrated on her face, she could have been a cover girl. “I was invited to a picnic a few weeks ago by a friend whose house backs up to a golf course. At dusk, a few of them took some clubs to the ninth hole and practiced their shots while the rest of us watched, giving them pointers. Without warning, the water sprinklers went on and everyone ran off the course, laughing and joking. Everyone except me.” Her smile faded. “I don’t blame them. They didn’t think to grab my wheel chair and push me off. It was a reflex action for them to run. And when they realized I was still sitting there getting soaked, one of the guys ran back and quickly brought me to dry land. Of course, they all apologized and felt so bad. The rest of the night I had to keep telling them not to worry. After a while, it became so uncomfortable I decided to leave. I don’t want people to be embarrassed over me. And I don’t want them to pity me.” She hung her head. “It’s just easier to stay home.”

The video continued by resuming her daily routine until she was put back into bed at ten and the lights turned off.

Charlotte inhaled and wiped the tears from her face. There was no way her adversaries would want a jury to see that. There was no one in this world that wouldn’t feel sympathetic for Gina and compel the doctor, and the hospital he worked for, to pay for her pain and suffering.

Charlotte placed an extra copy of the DVD into an envelope for hand delivery to Dr. Gallway’s attorney. Another was being sent to the hospital’s attorney. Once viewed, she’d be getting a phone call with a higher offer than the current three million dollars on the table.

She glanced at her watch. Almost four. She had a meeting with Brad to discuss the status of all her cases in a few minutes, as if she could concentrate on other clients right now. Grabbing her yellow pad along with a printout of her files, she headed to his office.

Poking her head in, she asked, “Are you ready for me?”

He didn’t look up from his computer. “Did you hear from George Masterson?”

“An hour ago. He tried to convince me he was only authorized to offer three million. I suggested he call me back after he shares our video with the insurance adjuster. I expect the offer to go up substantially.”

Brad swiveled in his chair toward Charlotte, a grin on his face. “Don’t take less than six from him. The insurance company for the hospital should come up with an additional four.”

Charlotte nodded. He was always pushing. His last directive had been five from Masterson. He must have forgotten that.

“You’re in the driver’s seat now, Charlotte. They have to be worried about going to trial. The pressure’s on.” He paused. “How are you holding up?”

At least he acknowledged the pressure was on her, too. While Brad had stayed involved in the case, he’d turned over more and more to her. In two weeks, she’d be picking a jury and delivering the opening statement. She’d be preparing seventeen hours a day. But she didn’t resent one moment of it. She was Gina’s crusader and there was nothing she’d rather be doing then fighting for her.

“Dr. Branson’s motion to be dismissed as a defendant was granted on Friday. I was looking for you after the court’s decision.” That was the one thorn in this case, the one troubling issue that had kept her awake at nights. She’d hated bringing Matt in as a defendant and was secretly glad the court dismissed the complaint against him. But she couldn’t let on in front of Brad.

“Doesn’t matter.” Brad waved his hand in the air. “We have Gallway and the hospital tied in. Between the two insurance companies, they’ll come up with ten million. But be prepared since it might not be until the day of trial.”

Charlotte glanced down at her list of other cases. “Are you ready to go over the status of these?”

“I’m tied up right now. Waiting for a conference call with Judge Wilson. Let’s do it tomorrow.”

He was back to his computer, ignoring her.

“Any advice on my opening statement?” She refused to let him off the hook.

“Why don’t you prepare it, then run it by me? Next Thursday works. Better yet, we’ll pull together a few others in the office and you can do a dry run. Get some other opinions.”

Great. As if she didn’t have enough anxiety over this case without getting critiqued by far more experienced litigators. Although, the lessons learned would be invaluable. “I’ll start working on it.”

She headed back to her office and burrowed in for the long haul.

Only one hundred sixty-eight hours till show time.

****

Charlotte punched in four digits on the conference room phone to make an inter-office call, her finger shaking as she dialed. Clearing her throat, she stood, then sat, as she waited for Brad to pick up.

“What?” he answered in his familiar curt reply.

“Could you come by Conference Room Two for a minute? I need to run something by you.”

Charlotte had taken over the room three weeks ago with the Belton case files, yellow legal pads, assorted law books and a coffee pot. Everyone knew where to find her, but they stayed away, knowing she was preoccupied. She did emerge every once in a while for a needed walk around the office and human contact, but it didn’t last long. Focused solely on the case, she couldn’t talk to anyone about anything else.

Brad walked in and took a seat at the table littered with notes and file inserts. “So?” He folded his arms over his chest and looked at her pointedly.

“I have the offers.” The offers that would allow Gina to live a more comfortable life, if not a whole life. She contained the building anxiety as best she could, but was unable to sit still, so she paced the room.

Brad’s eyes followed her. “And?”

“Masterson offered six million and Whitman, the attorney for the hospital, offered four.” She stopped pacing and looked at him.

A slow grin turned into a smile that even reached his eyes. “Whew.” He rose and ran a hand through his thinning hair. “Congratulations.”

The words she’d wanted to hear.

She finally allowed the smile out. It had been bottled up for the last five minutes since she’d hung up with Whitman, wondering if Brad would say to push for more.

He came around the table and shook her hand. “You did it. I never thought they’d come up with our demand. Our client was happy with six. I would have settled for eight.”

Perhaps, but Gina deserved every penny Charlotte was able to squeeze out of the insurance companies. “I couldn’t,” Charlotte said, almost to herself. Gina had a lifetime of nursing care to pay for, as well as medical bills and living expenses. Not to mention the pain and suffering she’d already survived.

Brad ignored her comment. “I had a feeling they’d come up with more the day before trial,” he gloated, as if he’d been the one involved in the negotiations. “Your parents would have been proud of you.”

She nodded, for once not feeling the stabbing pain of loss, but pride and satisfaction as it rained down upon her from heaven.

“This calls for a celebration. I’ll gather the troops and a few bottles of champagne. You call the boys back and accept their offers.”

The minute he left, Charlotte collapsed in her chair. Physically and mentally drained, she thought about how wonderful this would be for Gina. Her financial worries could fade to the background and she could concentrate on getting the care she needed. Her mother wouldn’t have to worry about missing another unpaid day of work, her sister would be able to focus on her own college studies. This settlement not only affected Gina, but her entire family.

Charlotte only took a few moments to bask in the glory and fulfillment that came with helping someone who truly deserved this award.

Then she called the boys.

Chapter Fifteen

“Matt got out of the case on an application to dismiss the complaint against him,” Clay advised as he absently looked out the passenger window of Collins’ Mercedes SLK. “Gina Belton’s attorneys had no evidence to link Ms. Belton’s injuries to Matt. But Gallway and the hospital are paying plenty.” He shook his head, still smarting over the exorbitant settlement.

“Have you talked to Charlotte?” Collins wound his car through the tree-lined streets of his Princeton suburb.

“No.” His answer came out rougher than he’d anticipated. He was still furious with Charlotte for dragging Matt into the case, but he didn’t think it prudent to let on to Collins, who didn’t like conflict.

“Don’t you think you should congratulate her?”

“Congratulate her!” Clay glanced at Collins to see if he was joking, but no sign of a smile curved his mouth. Clay sighed. “Whose side are you on?”

“Charlotte did a great job in that case. And we learned a valuable lesson. We put new checks into place for our surgery procedures and built a better communication network between our diagnostic technicians and surgeons. The case settled and it’s time to move on. I hope you don’t hold a grudge toward Charlotte. She did what she had to do.”

“Humpf.” Clay would have to stew on this one. He wasn’t about to let his anger just fade away based on a few motivational words from Collins.

He felt rather than saw Collins’ disapproval, since he didn’t bother to look at him. How could Collins let go of it so easily? The hospital—or at least its insurance company—had ended up paying four million to settle the suit against them. And Gallway’s insurer another six.

Collins pulled into the driveway, but before getting out of the car he gave some advice. Or was it a directive? “Let it go, Clay, or it’s going to eat you up.”

There was a true statement. He inhaled, attempting to push the negativity away and decided a change of subject was the best way to forget about it. At least for now. “I hope your wife doesn’t mind you bringing me home for dinner.” Clay climbed out of Collins’ car and followed him to the front door.

“Doris never minds having guests. In fact, she loves when she doesn’t have to just talk to me.” Collins chuckled as he ushered him into the house. “Doris? I brought company.”

A petite woman in designer jeans and an expensive-looking blouse swept into the living room with a smile on her face. “Hi, honey,” she said to Collins as she stood on her toes and gave him a kiss. “Clay! What a surprise. It’s been so long. I’m glad you could get away and have a meal with us.” She kissed him too, shooing away the concern he might be unwelcome. “I’ll just set another place at the table.”

Still needing to address his spur-of-the-moment appearance, he explained, “Richard and I were meeting when he said he’d promised to be home by seven. He invited me along so we could finish the conversation in the car.”

Doris laughed. “If that’s what it takes to get Richard home in time for dinner, you’re welcome any night. So, how are things in the ER these days?”

“Busy. Very busy. We could use another doctor or two. That’s what we’ve been talking about.” He caught a look of caution from Collins, who apparently didn’t want to bring work issues home. “But I won’t bore you with details. It’s so nice to get away from the hospital and I can’t remember the last time I had a home cooked meal.”

“Well, have a seat and relax.” Collins stopped behind his wife and massaged her shoulders before moving toward the bar in the corner of the room. “What can I get you, Clay? Vodka, scotch?”

“Do you have a beer?”

“Sure do.” Collins opened a small refrigerator and surveyed the shelves. “Corona, Amstel, Bud?”

“Corona, thanks. Doris, how’s the travel agency doing?”

She sat across from Clay with a glass of wine. “Not good. The Internet is putting me out of business. Most people book their own flights now. And it’s easy to find great getaway packages at reasonable or even discounted rates with the stroke of a few computer keys.” She sipped her wine, looking thoughtful. “I’m contemplating a move into the upscale market. Maybe focusing on a specific country, like Italy or Spain. I would make all the arrangements from the limo to the airport, to booking hotels, restaurants, tour guides, you name it.”

Collins nodded. “I think you should go for it. If anyone can do it, you can.”

He smiled at his wife and their eyes met and held for a moment. One of those personal, connecting looks that two people in love have for each other. Clay watched the interchange, amazed. They’d been married for almost thirty-five years, yet they really enjoyed spending time together, alone or with friends.