Chapter Forty-Two

Sitting at his desk, Trapper looked up as Gonzo came into his office and went straight to the coffee maker, pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Help yourself as long as you are," Trapper said sarcastically.

Smiling aloofly, Gonzo said, "Thanks," on his way to the sofa.

"I thought you had an appointment with Leah this morning."

"I did. She's already come and gone. Well, not gone. She's in her office."

Trapper looked up. "How'd the echo look?"

"Perfect. Not even a hint of any abnormalities. But she was in a bad mood."

"Bad mood?"

"Yeah. She didn't smile, even after I plied my boyish charm. She just wanted to get it done and leave, like she had something else more important to do, only whatever it was, it didn't seem like it was anything good."

Leaning back, Trapper rubbed his chin. "Something's going on. I called her yesterday at her apartment. She didn't answer. She didn't stop by here this morning, either."

"Did you have a fight?"

"No. We had a great evening Saturday." Thinking aloud, he muttered to himself, "Only I didn't stay. She wasn't angry when I left. Maybe a little disappointed, but not mad." Standing, he resumed his conversation with Gonzo, "Maybe I should go downstairs and see what's going on." Before he rounded the desk, his telephone rang. "McIntyre."

"John, I need to see you in my conference room."

"Well, good morning to you, too, Arnold. What's up?"

"Just get up here," Arnold growled before he hung up the phone.

Trapper looked at the receiver. "I wonder what problem he has that he's about to dump on me."

Walking out with Trapper, Gonzo commented, "Everyone's in a bad mood this morning. Maybe I'll go back to the Titanic and hide." They parted company at the elevator.

When Trapper opened the door to the conference room, he stopped in his tracks. Arnold was sitting at the head of the table looking at paperwork with a scowl on his face. Leah sat on the far side of the table, her back straight as an arrow, wearing her black skirt and jacket and a white shirt. Her hair was even up in the tight bun he hadn't seen since her collapse. Sitting beside her was Mark, who looked strangely uncomfortable.

"Dr. McIntyre, sit down," barked Arnold, motioning to the chair across from Leah. "Ms. Haverty, would you please explain why we're here."

"Of course, Mr. Slocum." She leaned back in her chair and looked straight ahead of her, but avoided Trapper's eyes. Speaking calmly and matter-of-factly, she began, "My job here is to create a secure environment that enforces the policies and procedures of this hospital and the rules of the regulatory agencies that govern it. What I mean by a secure environment is that no one outside this hospital or within this hospital except those in authority, and then only following the prescribed procedures, can jeopardize the accreditation status or cause the hospital to seem complicit in any fraudulent matters. I wanted to try to catch up on my audit reports before I came in this morning, so I spent the better part of yesterday reviewing the computer activities that transpired while I was away. I was extremely disturbed to find that not only the accreditation of the hospital has been put in jeopardy, but the hospital is in danger of being accused of fraud. Our computer system has been hacked, gentlemen, and it was not from an outside source, but rather from a member of my staff and a high-ranking member of the hospital staff." She looked at Mark. "Mr. Hansen, you deliberately changed the personal health information of a patient; to be exact a date of birth. This action caused an exception in the audit reports that go to The Joint Committee, the California Department of Health, and the state Insurance Commissioner. Mr. Slocum, if you haven't already, you will be hearing from each one of those entities. They'll be breathing down your neck in a matter of days, if not hours. Dr. McIntyre, the intrusion was perpetrated on your computer, so that naturally implicates you."

"Trapper, do you have an explanation?" asked Arnold.

"There's a perfectly valid explanation," he answered coolly. "We have a patient…a six-year-old girl who required immediate surgery to remove an ovary and repair a ruptured ureter. If we hadn't performed the surgery, she would have gone septic in a matter of hours. Because it was reproductive related surgery on an underage child, it was considered restricted and required approval. The only one who could approve it was you, Arnold, but you were on a yacht somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and out of contact. I asked Mark to find a way around the system, and he did. He saved that little girl's life."

"You don't know that, Dr. McIntyre," said Leah. "You have no idea how long it would have taken for that child to become critical from sepsis. You could have waited for Arnold to contact the hospital, which he did that evening." She turned to Mark. "What did I tell you when I gave you native access to the databases?"

"You said not to put the hospital at risk."

"And what did you do?"

"Leah, what could I do? Dr. McIntyre told me this child's life depended on me finding a way around it. She would've died."

"It is not your job to protect the lives of the people in this hospital. That is the hospital's responsibility. Your job is to protect the business of this hospital…to prevent risks to its accreditation and risk of law suits."

"Now wait just a minute," said Trapper, leaning forward and glaring at Leah. "It was my job to ensure that we did what was necessary to prevent what could have led to the child's death. It was my responsibility, and I did what was necessary to save her."

For the first time, she coldly looked into his eyes. "The day you came back from your consultation with her doctor, what did I tell you?"

Twisting his mouth, he let out a heavy breath and looked at her from under his brow. "You told me it was a restricted surgery, and that Arnold's approval would be required."

"So why didn't you get it when you knew it would have to be done?"

Trapper looked up at the ceiling, realizing he was the one who screwed up. If he'd listened to her then, they wouldn't be in this mess. "Arnold, I take full responsibility for this."

Leah stood. "Mr. Slocum, Dr. McIntyre is your responsibility. For our part, I'll report this to our company, and they will decide what to do for my part in this."

"You weren't even here," said Arnold, surprisingly calm, maybe even penitent.

"I gave Mark my access codes while I was out, believing he would act responsibly. I will change access to the databases to only myself for the time being until I hear from the company." She bowed her head, folding her lips. Watching her closely, Trapper saw her chin quiver slightly before she turned to Mark. "Mark, it was Dr. McIntyre's responsibility to find a way to handle the patient's situation. He's not your boss, and he has no authority to ask you to do anything. I've hammered your responsibilities into your head for years, and yet you still overstepped your bounds to the point that the very existence of this hospital is in danger." At this point, she was taking great pains to control her breathing. "Gather your things and be out of this hospital within the hour." Mark's jaw dropped, his hands went to the arms of his chair, and he pushed himself up, facing her. Without looking him in the eye, she said quietly, "You're fired."

Trapper came out of his chair so fast it rolled backward and slammed into the wall. "Leah! This is not Mark's fault!"

She turned back to him with fire in her eyes. "He's put two companies at risk, McIntyre! He's not here to save your patients. He's here to protect the hospital, and he didn't do that."

Standing, Arnold held up his hands. "If this is anyone's responsibility, it's mine and the board. Leah, you warned us that having only one person with that kind of authority put the hospital at risk. We didn't listen to you because, frankly, we never thought the situation would occur. It hasn't up to now. I'll deal with The Joint Committee, the DOH, and the Insurance Commission. And I'll make sure we have the appropriate people available to authorize restricted surgeries in the future."

"I suggest you give that authority to all of your medical department heads," said Leah. "Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I have to put together a report of the breach for my company and for your board. Mark, come with me. I have to escort you out after you gather your belongings." She held out her hand. "I need your hospital badge." Mark slowly unclipped it from his lapel and handed it to her, after which, they left the conference room.

"Arnold, you can't let her fire him," Trapper said angrily.

Slowly sitting in his chair, Arnold rubbed his forehead. "He doesn't work for me, Trapper. I have no say in the matter."

"Well, I do," snapped Trapper, turning and leaving the room. He got to the elevator just in time to board it and push the button for the third floor. Standing in front of Leah and facing her, he moved his hands to his hips and said firmly, "You and I need to talk."

She looked up at him sadly. "Do you think I want to do this? This is what happens when you're the boss. I have to think about the risks to my own company in addition to my client, and the first thing both would want to hear is that the person who committed the offense is gone. It's standard procedure."

The door opened behind Trapper. He stepped out, but held the door open, reaching in and grabbing Leah's arm. "Come with me."

"Do I have a choice?" she said, trying to pull her arm away. "McIntyre, let me go," she said, looking around her to see if anyone had noticed him pulling her down the hallway.

When they went by the nurse's station, Ernie and Gonzo stood by, watching and giving each other a disturbed look. They fell in line with Mark, who was already following Trapper and Leah down the hall.

"Let go of me," she said loud enough for people to stop in the hall and watch as Trapper had her up on her toes rushing down the hall. They entered ICU, and after that Trapper shoved her through the door of a patient's room, turning her and pushing her close to the glass that separated them from the Sanchez child. Leah tried to turn away, but Trapper held her there.

Leaning into her ear, he said quietly, but sternly, "Take a good long look, Leah. That's a six-year-old child in there. That's the life you claim you're not responsible for."

She felt a sudden sick chill that seemed to move through her with the sensation that her blood was draining from her body. Trapper heard her let out a timorous breath, watched her face change to a woeful, wet mess as her hands moved flat against the glass. "I can't do this anymore," she whispered between soft sobs.

Trapper had no time to react. Someone grabbed his collar and pulled him back out of the room. He found himself against the wall face to face with Mark. "What kind of cruel game are you playing, McIntyre? You know she can't handle this!" Mark yelled.

Trapper had just enough time to move his arms up between Mark's, knocking his away and breaking his hold on Trapper's collar before Gonzo stepped between them, pushing Mark backward. The two men looked poised to fight, but Gonzo didn't move. "This is a hospital. If you two want to fight, take it outside."

Ernie had sidestepped the melee, entering the room. "Oh no," she said, moving her hand to cover her mouth. She went back into the hall before any of the men had moved. "This isn't the time or the place for a fight," she said scornfully. "Leah's gone. She must have gone out the side door." The men stood still for a moment, letting what Ernie said sink in. "Well, don't just stand there! We have to find her!"

Moving his hands to his hips, Trapper flared his nostrils, drawing his mouth in. "Gonzo, take the stairs down to the first floor and check the parking lot. Mark, get down to the basement and see if she's in her office. Ernie, check the ladies room. I'm going to the loading docks. Maybe she's going out the back way. Meet back in my office."

Leah had, indeed, gone out the side door of the room. She looked back at Mark and Trapper, locked into what apparently was going to be a fight before she ran down the hall, hopping as she went to remove her heels. The service elevator door had opened just before she got there, so she was able to step on quickly, pressing the button for the basement until the doors closed.

Once in the basement, she turned toward the loading docks. There was only one man there, and he just watched as she ran to the big door of a bay and scrambled down onto the pavement, then ran across the back lot and through the bushes to the street. She stepped in front of a cab, causing the driver to slam on his breaks, and as he yelled out his window, she laid her hands on the hood, and ran to the side, opening the door. Stepping in, she barked directions as she closed the door. "Just go! Hurry!" The driver turned and glared at her. "Look, I'll pay you five hundred dollars to just go!" With that, he turned and squealed the tires as he left.

Trapper ran to the edge of the bay, looking out and just catching a glimpse of the back of a speeding cab. He turned back to the man on the loading dock. "Did you see a woman in a black suit go through here?"

"Yessir. She ran across the parking lot and almost got hit by a cab. Then she got in and left. She musta been in a big hurry the way that cabbie spun out of here."

Heading back toward the elevator, Trapper slammed his open hand against a packing box.