"Is this some kind of sick joke?" Dr Coleman shouted standing up.
The girl in the witness' chair rolled her eyes. Bea's eyes never left her even as she answered firmly.
"I assure you Dr Coleman. I am deadly serious. Your daughter is an important witness in this case. She overheard the conversation between your esteemed colleague and Dr McDonald in the coffee shop: the very conversation where Dr McDonald is alleged to have propositioned her boss; except, your daughter remembers the conversation differently."
Dr Coleman grew livid. "That is completely impossible!" he shouted.
Casey held her breath because much as she hated to admit it, he was right. What Bea was suggesting was completely impossible. She could remember everything about that evening very clearly and there had been no one close enough to have listened in on their conversation – even if Suzi Coleman's face was familiar.
"Dr Coleman. Whilst I have been told I have amazing skills as a lawyer and my fiancé used to tell me I was a miracle worker, I cannot perform the impossible. What I am suggesting is not however impossible. Your daughter was in the coffee shop that night and she was a party to the conversation. I think we owe it to Truth for us to listen to her testimony."
"I won't allow it!" he snapped backed.
"She's an adult and she has consented to speak because she has something important to say. You really have no choice." Bea replied without raising her voice.
She took a breath and focussed once again on Suzi who was a pretty girl, considerably younger than Casey but an adult no less. Her intelligence shone from her eyes and Casey liked the look of her. It was as if her honesty radiated too.
Bea smiled at her witness.
"Are you ready?" She asked looking Suzi directly in the eye. Suzi nodded.
"You were there as I said?" Bea asked the girl. She nodded again.
"Sorry can you confirm that for me?" Bea prompted.
"Yes I was there. I was several tables away but my line of sight was clear."
"Which is important, isn't it?"
"Yes." Suzi said with a wry smile.
"I object!" Dr Coleman stood up again.
Suzi turned to her father.
"Oh Daddy!" She objected rapidly and dramatically raising her right thumb to her forehead, her fingers splayed. "I feel so small!" She tapped her chest and then, squeezing her right thumb and closed fingers together she thumped them heavily onto her flat left hand. And then seeing he was about to object…
"STOP!" She shouted, slicing her right hand down onto her flattened left hand sharply.
And suddenly Casey understood.
Suzi Coleman was deaf.
It all made sense: Bea's need to maintain eye contact so that Suzi could read her lips, the very slight accent to Suzi's voice – so slight you barely noticed it, the black Labrador "hearing dog" that had been allowed onto hospital premises, and the fluent expressive tones of speech made by Suzi's hands.
And now Casey understood how Suzi could "overhear" a conversation on the other side of the room.
She had lip-read.
Casey wasn't the only person in the room to understand but they all had to wait to find out how Bea had found Suzi because she did not give them time to puzzle it out. Instead, nodding to the person who had entered the room with Suzi and pausing only briefly to let them stand and join the young girl, Bea launched into her questioning.
"You were at the coffee shop on that date?" Bea asked. The person beside Suzi began to sign to her.
Suzi nodded. It was clear she didn't really need the sign interpreter. She understood Bea clearly just by reading her lips.
"I was having coffee with a friend." She said her mouth and her hands talking at the same time.
"And you remember Dr McDonald and her boss entering the coffee shop?"
"Yes. My friend had started to talk about a Physics final we had the following week. She was panicking about something rather straight forward and after my attempts to reassure her kept failing, I zoned out. Instead of listening to her I was busy people-watching. I noticed Dr McDonald because she seemed really uneasy: conflicted almost."
Suzi turned to Casey.
"I'm sorry. I wasn't being nosey and rude. It's just that in a world absent of sound you take your atmosphere cues from other signs. I automatically read people's body language and expressions the way you might accidentally overhear a snippet of conversation. Just like an overheard sentence has the power to draw your attention, so does the look of distracted pain on the face of a woman whose companion is desperately attracted to her."
Marie, silent for so long, snorted. "How on earth can you tell that? You don't know the people, you'd never met them. You've never even heard them speak."
That last part drew a gasp from more than one person in the room. Dr Coleman glared at his colleague.
"I think we are all aware my daughter is deaf, Marie. There is no need to rub her face in it at every opportunity."
Suzi rolled her eyes. "Daddy," she chided him with her voice and her hands. "My deafness is only part of me. It does not define me, so I am not offended if ignorance causes a misunderstanding. Ms Anton, is it? Ms Anton, have you ever walked into a room and immediately known that a person doesn't like you? Without them saying a word?"
Casey's eyes met those of the nice guy at the back of the room and they shared a smirk. Of course Marie had! She probably experienced that every day…but then again she might not notice!
"What does that prove?" Marie asked.
"To make that assumption, of someone else's feelings towards you - without speech - your mind has taken cues from the body language they used, the tone of their eyes…so many tiny signs. Like a blind person's enhanced sense of touch, for a deaf person, those tiny signs are so important they become magnified. I knew that the man with Dr McDonald that night desired her because he leaned towards her and touched her a lot. His hand rarely left her arm."
Casey frowned. Was that true? Her mind had been so full of Derek that night she had hardly noticed Robin's approaches however clearly she remembered the details of her surroundings.
Bea stepped in. "And Dr McDonald's manner?"
Suzi turned to Casey.
"Shifty." She said with a smile. "It was that which kept my attention on her. She looked like she was about to bolt out of the door any minute. She kept looking at her watch and then looking to the night outside. She enjoyed her hot drink but it was clear that she was only there out of a sense of duty. That became abundantly clear when they spoke. Initially Dr McDonald expressed her enjoyment of the coffee shop – and I agree it is a very nice place. I hope these events haven't put her off!
Anyway, she said:"I think I might come here again. This was a nice idea, thank you." Robin seemed to like this and asked her if she would come again with him. He was leaning forward as though her answer really mattered. Dr McDonald looked distracted and I don't think she appreciated what he was asking because as she started to answer him quite casually, he decided it was an invitation to more and kissed her on the mouth."
There was a gasp around the room. Robin stood up.
"That's a lie!"
Bea frowned at him. "Ms Coleman has no reason to lie. She knows neither of you personally. She is merely here as a member of the public."
Marie frowned. "How did you find out about this hearing?"
Suzi turned to the Chair.
"Ms Evans found me."
"How?" Marie's voice was accusatory.
Bea shrugged. "I asked the staff in the coffee shop."
Marie snorted. "As did I the day after it happened. They said no one was near enough to hear."
Bea smiled. "You asked the wrong question. I asked who was in the coffee shop that night. They told me that no one was seated close enough to hear but they mentioned some of their regulars. Ms Coleman was one of the names mentioned." She sighed. "Of course, they too like you, assumed that she was of no use, and they told me why. Unlike them and you, I made no assumptions. I tracked Suzi down."
"Lucky you!" Marie sniped.
"Luck had nothing to do with. Prejudice gives you a very limited view of the world. It's like wearing horse blinkers. I learnt that lesson a long time ago."
There was a moment's pause.
"Please go on Suzi." Bea said softly. "How did Casey react to the kiss?"
"She gasped in shock and surprise, and I believe he mis-interpreted her reaction as an invitation to make the kiss more serious because Dr McDonald pushed him away with difficulty. She asked him what the hell he was playing at."
"What was Robin's response?"
Suzi frowned. "It was rather arrogant. I guess he isn't used to being turned down. Anyway, he said "Oh come on Casey. Surely you realised I didn't just ask you out to talk work?" Casey – Dr McDonald appeared shocked and Robin said "I made it clear I fancy you - that I was hoping we could develop this attraction into something more physical.""
There were murmurings around the room. What Robin had suggested was really inappropriate on any level.
"Casey asked him what attraction he was talking about – she seemed confused. She told him she had made it clear she wasn't interested in dating her boss. I remember wondering if the rest of their department were as attractive as they were."
There were a few smiles at that.
"Meanwhile, Casey mentioned that she lived with someone – that it was serious - and asked how she had given Robin the wrong impression."
"And then?"
"And then the conversation deteriorated into a discussion about Casey's relationship with her step-brother. It wasn't very pleasant. Eventually, Dr McDonald stood, thanked him for dinner and told him there wouldn't be a repeat. She also promised to re-pay her half of the meal cost by check the following day. Robin accused her of being after him for her career. Casey told him she wouldn't dignify that with an answer and that if he repeated the accusation it would look bad for him because he was the one who invited the new girl out for a $400 dinner to discuss her "career" options. Dr McDonald left then looking as though she was about to cry."
There was silence and all eyes in the room turned to Robin.
"This is no proof." Robin said. "She's been coached."
Dr Coleman sat up straighter in his chair.
"Please tell me you didn't just accuse my daughter of lying at a formal hearing, Robin?" he said.
"It's a valid point." Marie said.
Dr Coleman stared at her. "I've put up with some crap in my time from you two but this is below the belt – Literally. I've always known you couldn't keep it in your pants," he turned to Robin and then twisted to speak to Marie "and you lapped it up. But this…this is a step too far."
"But we…"
"Marie, you overplayed this. You were heavy handed, biased and completely out of line. I think it is more than clear that Dr McDonald has been nothing but professional in her time here; actions which we have re-paid badly with accusations and disrespect. It stops now. I will not work in a hospital where decent hard-working doctors are treated like this and I don't think I am alone in this." He looked around the table at his colleagues who all muttered their agreement.
"In fact," he went on. "I'd rather resign than deal with that kind of crap."
The nice guy at the back coughed. "You go, I go Roger."
"Here here." The others around the table agreed.
"Ah!" Dr Coleman said smiling sagely. "Well I think we have a problem here. It appears the majority of the board would rather leave than work under you. Clearly we cannot have the entire Board of a hospital resigning in one go. So we have little choice. I would like point out to you both that a generous package will be available to you both if you do the honourable thing…a severance package. Am I speaking for the whole Board with my suggestion?"
There followed a chorus of agreement. Robin looked…resigned (ironically), Marie looked furious.
"You can't do this! I am the Chair of the Board."
Dr Coleman frowned. "Oh? Did I miss a step? Forgive me. I move for a vote of no confidence in the Chair. All those in favour say Ay."
"AY!" The entire Board replied.
"Motion carried."
The nice guy at the back straightened. "I move that we vote Dr Coleman as the new Chair. All those in favour…say Ay."
"AY!"
The nice guy grinned. "Motion carried. You're up Roger!"
"Thanks Andrew." Dr Coleman nodded.
"Marie Anton. I believe your position at this hospital has been terminated. Shall we adjourn to my office to discuss your severance pacakage?"
Bea spoke up. "Dr Coleman? We…erm…need to resolve the other matter?"
Dr Coleman looked up at the lawyer and then at his daughter. "Oh yes…of course!"
He turned to Casey.
"Dr McDonald. The hospital would like to extend its sincere apologies for the way you have been treated. We hope that you are not put off by the extreme actions of my former colleagues and that you will continue to make your home with us."
He looked at Casey expectantly.
"Erm…" She looked embarrassed. "Can I return to work on Monday?" She was eager to put this behind her.
"Of course. The duration of your suspension will of course be recompensed at full pay. The Board would again like to express its regret at the situation which occurred."
Surprised, Casey nodded. "I shall see you bright and early on Monday." She said not allowing the massive wave of euphoria to knock her off her feet just yet.
"Good, good. Andrew," Dr Coleman looked across at the nice guy at the back of the room. "It would appear that we have a vacancy for a Head of Trauma. I know that you have expressed an interest in the position in the past. May I interest you in a temporary placement? We can perform the formalities at a later date."
Andrew smiled. "I'd be delighted, Roger."
There was a great deal of movement then. Robin and Marie found themselves ushered from the room even as the rest of the Board began to rise from their seats. Dr Coleman however, did not leave. Instead, he moved across to his daughter, standing before her, his demeanour somewhat chastened.
He glanced down at his feet and then up into her eyes.
Roger Coleman's right fist made a circle around his heart.
"I'm sorry." He said. Then he pointed to his chest, zipped his middle up with his fist and then pointed to his daughter. I pride you. She hid a smirk.
"It's ok." She replied, signing as she spoke. "I understand. It's hard not to be protective towards your child."
He smiled wryly. "I should trust you though. You aren't a child anymore."
"Yes. You should." She said smiling. "But it's forgotten – this time."
"Dinner?" he asked.
"I'd be delighted!" She beamed back.
Dr Coleman, an apologetic look towards Casey bent down to ruffle the black Labrador behind his ears and then helped his daughter up from her seat.
"We will make amends to you Dr McDonald." He promised as he prepared to leave.
Casey nodded her thanks and then she put her hand on Suzi's arm to still the witness who had recovered her career for her. She turned both hands upside down in front of her and wiggled her fingers in the ASL standard for "Wait!"
Suzi looked at her in surprise and appreciation. Casey smiled depreciatingly.
"I took ASL classes." She signed. "It helps my job."
"You sign well." Suzi had stopped speaking and just relied on her hands.
"Thank you." Casey replied in return. "I learnt a long time ago, during a black period in my life. I've never regretted it. It's a skill I use at least once a week." She smiled. "I will never forget what you did today."
"I told the truth." Suzi signed.
"Sometimes that's the hardest thing of all." Casey replied.
The door at the back of the room opened and three Mounties entered the room, Derek in the lead.
Suzi glanced at the approaching man and turned to Casey.
She frowned and mouthed "who" as her hands formed a vague "L" shape. Who is that man?
Casey looked across.
"D E R E K." She fingerspelled.
"Your step-brother?" Suzi signed.
Casey chuckled. "And my partner." She signed.
Suzi stroked her flattened palms across each other in a clear sign that Casey recognised. "Niiiice!" She confirmed verbally - in a way that made Casey giggle.