Story: The Nobel Laureate
Chapter 12
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Previously: Abbey told Jed about her conversation with Kyle and when he tried to storm off to confront the doctor, Abbey stopped him by assuring him that she was going to take care of it herself
Summary: Abbey talks to Robert Nolan about her options regarding Kyle; Jed learns he may not be the only Economics Nobel Prize winner that year
Jed bounced an enthusiastic Zoey on his hip as they walked to the car. Her head was turned towards her father and her mouth moved a mile a minute, thrilled to be telling him about the drawing Ellie helped her with that morning. In one hand, she clutched a baggy with leftover cereal from breakfast and in the other, a crayon she refused to part with.
He threw his briefcase into the back seat, then pointed towards the horse barn. "Look over there, Zo."
The little girl whipped her head around, the sight before her provoking a sudden silence. Abbey had just finished her morning ride and was now approaching the duo. She wore her tall black leather riding boots over the tight denim breeches that hugged every curve of her hips. Her dark auburn waves, no longer inhibited by her skull cap, hung freely over the low-cut collared shirt that was revealed when she swung her jacket over her shoulder.
Jed smiled as he watched his wife strolling across the field. Last night, she had been so tense. Now, she seemed relaxed and in control. There was a visible spring back in her step. And, more importantly to him, a sparkle back in her eye.
"What are you looking at?" she hollered.
"The sexiest woman alive," he replied.
Recognizing her mother's riding outfit, Zoey kicked at Jed's waist until he let her down so she could run to her. "Mommy!"
"Hey, Sunshine." Abbey bent down to scoop her up in her arms.
"I wanna see Sadow!" Zoey excitedly pointed towards the barn.
"Oh Sweetheart, it's too late to play with Shadow this morning." The two year old's face crumbled with that news. Abbey stroked her back and sympathetically added, "I'll tell you what though. Tomorrow morning, I'll wake you up early and we'll go for a ride. Just the two of us, okay?"
"Sadow?"
"Yes, we'll ride Shadow."
Zoey pondered the thought for a moment, then stuck out her little finger the way Ellie had taught her. "Pinkie pwomise?"
Abbey curled her finger around her daughter's. "Pinkie promise."
"Now that that's settled, come on, Zoey, we've gotta get going." Jed helped her scoot in to her car seat so he could buckle her up.
"Why are you leaving so early anyway?" Abbey asked.
"I have a review session this morning."
"Don't your TA's usually handle those?"
"Yeah, but my Economic Policy class has a proctored midterm this afternoon so I agreed to do this one." His concern for his students' success far outweighed his own inconvenience. It was something that never went unnoticed, not on campus, nor at home.
"Come on. No one's that unselfish. You just want to go flirt with all those ladies who rated you a five on the hotness scale." Though Abbey wasn't above teasing him from time to time.
"I'm not denying a thing." And he wasn't above responding in kind.
"Am I going to have to send my spies to make sure you behave yourself?"
"You have spies?"
"Does that shock you?"
"It turns me on." He lifted both brows in that mischievous way he had.
"And that's my cue." She intentionally brushed past him as she headed to the house.
"Hey!" Jed called out to her. "What about you? What are you doing?"
"I'm going to talk to Robert today."
"To ask for his advice?"
"Yeah."
"Listen, about that...I gave you a hard time about Kyle last night because all I wanted to do was punch his face in for what he said, but I want you to know that whatever you decide to do about him, I'm going to support you."
"I already knew that," she replied with a smile. "But thank you for saying it."
"Give 'em hell today."
"I plan to."
And there it was. That passionate flame that he knew was burning inside her. She arched her brow and before turning from him, she gave him a glance at the seething cauldron of fire that burst from her expressive green eyes. In that instant, he knew, without a doubt that while Abbey had given Kyle Nelson a pass in med school, she wasn't going to do it again.
She walked in to Robert Nolan's office that afternoon full of determination. From the minute she took her seat in the leather swivel chair across from his desk, it was clear she had abandoned the nagging doubts that had kept her up all night. She was on a mission and Robert was about to hear all about it.
"I want to make some noise about Dr. Nelson and I want you to tell me the best way to do that," she said plainly.
"About Dr. Nelson? Why?"
"We'll get to that in a minute. First, I want to make it clear that the Chief doesn't know about this, no one at the hospital does. I'd like to keep it that way until we know the source of Bill Niederlander's infection."
"What happened?"
"I'm coming to you because I think you know that I'm not the kid who whines about being picked on in the playground. I don't complain unless there's reason to and in this case, I think it's in the best interest of every employee at this hospital that I say something."
"About what?"
"Dr. Kyle Nelson is an insufferable jerk. He leads by intimidation. That's how he gets his way with med students, interns, residents, and fellows, as well as the nurses. I think it needs to stop."
"I get the feeling you're about to make a serious accusation."
"He confronted me last night and while I don't want to make a huge deal out of it, I'd like it on the record so that next time someone files a complaint - and believe me, there will be a next time - they won't be starting from scratch."
He had seen Abbey like this before. Tenacious and aggressive. They were two qualities he admired the most about her. But his instincts kicked in and before he could fully commit himself to hear what she had to say, he made another suggestion. "Abbey, this is the kind of thing you should probably be talking about with your attending."
"I'm talking to you, Robert. Not as a doctor, but as a friend. All formalities aside, I need you to help me find a way to get him away from me without jeopardizing my career. That may be filing a complaint. Or it may be something else. Just help me find the path of least resistance."
"There might not be one. Tell me what he said to you."
"It's not just what he said..."
"Abbey."
"He tried to get me to admit that Mr. Niederlander's death was a result of my negligence and when I didn't say what he wanted, he told me he intended to find out what happened."
Robert shrugged. Ignorant about the history, he just couldn't understand the significance of Kyle's words. "Wait a minute. I know he's upset that we lost a patient. He's known the Niederlanders for years. Do you think you might be overreacting? Sounds like he just wants to find out what happened."
"Robert..."
"If he's taking his grief out on you, I'm not saying that makes it right. I'm just saying it may not be out of line to give him some leeway here. Doctor to doctor."
"Dr. Nelson and I will never communicate doctor-to-doctor." Her tone seemed harsher now, more bitter and a bit resentful.
"Why? What am I missing?" He thought back to her earlier statement and asked, "How do you have so much insight into how he behaves with everyone else?"
Abbey hadn't shared her past with Kyle with anyone but Jed. She never had a reason to until now. "Have you seen him with the interns? With the third and fourth-year med students? Have you witnessed his interactions with the nurses?"
"No."
"For starters, you should know that he has a big problem with female physicians and he's not above making that known to students."
That got Robert's attention. He leaned forward in his chair and asked, "What has he done?"
"Now? I have no idea. But when I was doing third-year rotations in Boston, he was my resident."
"Why didn't you tell me you knew him?"
"Because it's not something I go around telling people. He was a bastard back then, Robert. He took pimping to an extreme and for the six weeks I was assigned to him, he made my life a living hell. He was the same way with the interns and, presumably, once he finished his residency, he turned on other residents as well. And God knows how much crap the nurses took from him every single day. They all despised him as much as I did."
"You've never told me any of this. Why now?"
"It happened about eight or nine years ago and I hadn't seen him since until you referred him to me for the Niederlander case."
"If I had known there was so much history between the two of you, I may have thought twice about that. But everything else aside, you can't pursue a complaint based on what happened when you were in med school."
"I'm not, believe me. I'm here because of what happened last night. When Kyle talked to me, I saw that same hostility in his eyes. I heard it in his voice. He hasn't changed. Not at all."
"Unless he actually said or did anything else last night, I can't advise you to pursue this. If you file any sort of complaint against him for a conversation like the one you described, it may come back to bite you in the ass later."
"He tried to intimidate me. Isn't that enough for a formal complaint?"
"Abbey, you're a fellow. He's an attending."
Frustrated, Abbey stood. She turned to the side and put her hand on her hip. "That isn't an excuse!"
Robert rose to his feet to meet her at eye level. "Look, I know it's not fair, but he's got the upper-hand here. He didn't touch you, right? He didn't say anything to threaten your safety, your well-being?"
"No, not last night."
"This is the worst possible time to file a complaint just because a doctor lost his temper."
"Lost his temper? Is that all you think it was?"
"You have a history with this guy. He was rude to you when you were a student. He pimped you in a way you thought was unacceptable. We've all been there. We've all had residents and attendings shout us down and make us feel like morons during our clerkships. We've all, at one time or another, even done it to med students."
"I never did it to anyone," Abbey returned quickly. "Whenever a student is assigned to me, I remember what I went through. I treat them with the respect they deserve. They're people, Robert. And while they're with us, we're supposed to be their teachers. I can't imagine why we would want to berate them just to make them feel like idiots."
"That isn't what I mean. I'm just saying that pimping is part of the process. It helps them. It motivates them to read when they leave the hospital every night, to come in every morning prepared for the cases they're assigned."
"And sometimes, with the wrong person in charge, it shatters their confidence and sends them home completely disgusted with the profession. Our goal is to turn out capable physicians. With Kyle, pimping isn't a motivator. It's a detriment."
"Maybe it was for you, but, Abbey, you have to move on. You have to forgive him for being a jerk to you back then. You felt humiliated in front of your peers, possibly in front of another doctor. I understand that, but it's over."
"I'm going to go ahead and tell you again this isn't about what happened back then."
"That's how it's going to look. This is someone you don't like very much and with good reason. He made your life hell during rotations. Fine. But all these years later, you're going to file a complaint because he told you he intends to find out why his patient died? It's not like he crossed the line."
"You had to be there," she whispered as if accepting the fact that she was losing this fight. "You had to hear the way he said it, the cold, steely look in his eyes. It gave me chills."
"I wasn't there and neither was anyone else. You're going to persecute a doctor because he showed concern for a patient that expired, that's how it'll look. And as if that isn't enough, you're going to do it before you're even cleared of any wrongdoing in that patient's case. Don't you see how others are going to interpret that?"
"They should interpret it the way it is. You read the Niederlander chart, Robert. I know you did. Do you think it was negligence?"
"The point is..."
"Do you think it was negligence?" Abbey looked him squarely in the eye as she waited for his response.
"No."
"Good. Then neither should anyone else. And as for how it looks, I've been here long enough that they should know I'm not trying to settle an old score with a petty charge of harassment! Dr. Nelson is a fairly new hire. He's been here...what...a month, six weeks? Do we know why he left his last job? Did anyone look into prior complaints against him?"
"It's not like we just hire people off the street, Abbey."
"That's not what I was suggesting. I'd just like to know if he's ever been challenged on what I would charitably call his attitude problem because I know I couldn't have been his only target. That's why I'm doing this. Kyle Nelson has no right being a doctor, let alone practicing in this hospital."
"That's not for you to say. And I would strongly recommend you not say it outside of this room."
"A minute ago, you said that now is the worst time to file a complaint. Why is that?" Robert sighed as he lowered his head, piquing Abbey's curiosity. "What's going on?"
"You're not supposed to know this, but the Chief is going to ask you to sign on as an attending next year. He's already decided he wants you."
This was what she had been working for since the start of medical school. A demanding position at a prestigious hospital once seemed like a lifetime away, but now her goal was well within reach and, to her own amazement, it took her only seconds to shrug it off.
"During one of the last days of my rotation in med school, I contradicted Dr. Nelson's order for a patient. He wanted Phenergan, 50 milligrams. Problem was, she had epilepsy. After I corrected the order, Kyle dragged me into another room and told me to never do that to him again. I watched him punch his fist into the wall and then, when I tried to leave, he grabbed my arm and then my shoulder. He shook me, physically, and he threw me up against a cabinet so hard, he left a bruise on my elbow. That was my warning. He said I only get one."
"Did you report him to the clerkship director?"
"No. That was in 1974, Robert. I was the only woman in my graduated medical class. I was already fighting an uphill battle and I was worried that if I complained about one of my rotations, I wouldn't get a sparkling evaluation to help me land an Ivy League residency. And now that I've got my Ivy League residency, my problem still hasn't gone away. Ironic."
"You didn't tell me it ever turned physical."
"It did. And Kyle may not have laid a hand on me last night, but I feel confident in saying that anger problem he had back then, it's still there. In the past, he has made it know that he hates female physicians, especially women who choose to have families while they pursue a career in medicine. He'll be looking for reasons to intimidate me and every other woman at this hospital. Doesn't that bother you?"
"Of course it bothers me."
"Then why would you encourage me to drop this just so the Chief can make me an attending? I want to work here, I really do. But I want to Kyle gone more. For everyone's sake."
She was doing the right thing, she quietly told herself. She had turned down the chance to stand up to him once before. She wasn't about to make that mistake again. The job wasn't worth letting Kyle continue to stalk the halls while she waited anxiously for the next time he had the urge to saunter over the line of professional behavior.
"Have a seat," Robert said as he reclaimed his chair. She looked at him for a second without moving, so he continued. "You said you wanted me to help you find a way to deal with this without ruffling too many feathers. Have a seat and I will."
"You will?"
"I can't say he'll be fired for the words exchanged last night, but you want it on his record, right? I'll help you do it."
It was then that Abbey realized she was right about Robert. There had many times over the past several years that she reached out to him for support and every time she did, he reached back. He helped her get back into the residency program after she took a year off following her brutal attack. He went to bat for her when the hospital gave her flack for Jed's interview discounting Elliot Roush's allegations that a gay pediatrician infected his patient with AIDS. She had no doubt that he would be her ally through this as well, but at this point, he had become more than just her mentor. Their relationship had blossomed into a close friendship, one that was special to both of them.
They sat privately for the next hour while Abbey recounted every word exchanged between her and Kyle, not solely for the sake of filing a complaint, but simply to give Robert a look at the real Dr. Nelson. The past was the past and she was willing to accept the fact that what he did years ago would have no relevance to who he was now, at least as far as the hospital was concerned. Robert wanted to know though. He wanted to fit together every piece of the puzzle before he advised her to taint the reputation of another doctor.
So, he listened attentively and when she was finished, he promised to help her in whatever way he could. It wasn't about revenge, they both agreed. A loose canon was a liability to everyone on staff. Though he was admittedly biased towards Abbey, Robert's concern centered on the problems Dr. Nelson's temper could potentially cost the hospital.
After they formulated a plan to arrange a meeting with Abbey's attending physician, the hospital's Chief of Surgery, and Dr. Kyle Nelson, Abbey ran out of Robert's office, excited to share the news with the one person she knew would be even happier than she was - Jed.
Unfortunately for her, Jed's class had finished early and he had been sidetracked by yet another press interview.
A reporter from the local paper in Hanover furiously scribbled into his notepad as he posed another question to the Nobel Prize winner. "I take it you're going to have quite an entourage in Stockholm?"
"Abbey and I have invited a few friends and relatives to join us. so I guess you could say that."
"Professor Housley?"
Jed would have never excluded the man who submitted his work to the prize committee. "He was invited, of course, but, unfortunately, he can't make it. His wife's mother is gravely ill and they want to be with her just in case."
"So who is going to accompany you?"
"Lets just say lots of people and leave it at that." He had gone over the list numerous times, but he wasn't yet numb to the sting of not seeing his father's name as one of the guests.
"Have you seen the official list of this year's laureates?"
"I haven't, actually. Not yet."
"There's a rumor floating around that you'll be honored along with one of your colleagues."
"Really?" Jed expressed some surprise.
"How do you feel about that? Having to share the spotlight with another economist?"
"Well, the purpose of the Nobel Prize is to recognize groundbreaking research that contributes to the welfare of society. So if there is another winner in Economics, I'd proudly share the stage with him. In fact, I'd embrace the opportunity."
His sincere proclamation would soon be tested. As the Bartlets made plans for their trip to Stockholm, Jed still had no idea that somewhere in Tokyo, his former grad school rival, Yosh Takahashi, was doing the same.
TBC