Chapter 6
When his mother returned there were several other hospital staff members with her. "Christian, come with us."
They made their way down the hallway and stopped at a door with a sign saying Consultation Room. The group entered the room and took seats around a small table. Once everyone was seated the older gentleman of the group spoke first.
"Mr. Grey, I am Dr. Wiseman, Seattle Grace's Chief of Emergency Medical. Ms. Steele has been assigned as my patient and before we begin to discuss her medical condition Ms. Manley from the admission department needs to view the Medical Power of Attorney you have for my patient."
"Taylor" was the only word Christian spoke.
Taylor stepped forward with an envelope and handed it to the administration representative, who reviewed the document then seemed to be comparing part of it to something on her tablet. "Based on the signature from Ms. Steele's driver license, the signature on the Medical Power of Attorney appears authentic. The POA is fully executed and gives Mr. Grey authority to act on Ms. Steele's behalf on any medical decision up to end of life decisions which require additional medical personnel support."
"What the hell, of course it's authentic!" The force of Christian's angry roar caused the hospital administrator to drop her tablet and push back from the table.
Taylor quickly placed a hand on his boss's shoulder, bent down and whisper in his boss's ear. "Sir, maybe some background information would alleviate the concerns the hospital staff seem to have with the POA."
Christian took a couple of deep breaths then addressed the room again in his CEO voice. "Not that I owe any of you jack shit in the way of an explanation, the information I am about to share with you does not leave this room. Understood?"
When everyone around the table nodded in agreement he continued. "Also, all of you will be signing a non-disclosure agreement. If any of this information reaches the press I will sue each and every one of you for every penny you will ever make from now until the end of time."
"Christian, you can't threaten my colleagues." His mother reprimanded giving him a stern look of disapproval.
Christian did not apologize but soften his approach. "Ms. Steele and I have been in a relationship for over six months. We wanted a chance to get to know each other privately before taking our relationship public. The public scrutiny my life receives scares the shit out of Anastasia. She is a very private and shy person who despises the idea of losing her privacy."
"The POA came about as a result of her father being severely injured in an automobile accident roughly three months ago. Her father was in ICU and unconscious for nearly a week. Her only other living relative is her mother who lives on the other side of the country. All the paperwork related to her father's health condition overwhelmed her but also made her consider her own health care risks should something happen to her while her father was unconscious. I suggested she should have a short dated medical power of attorney until her father recovered. Hence the POA's end date in two weeks. She liked the idea. I suggested she give the power to her long-time friend and roommate, but she choose to give the power to me."
The room was quiet at his confession. After a few minutes Christian cleared his throat and in his CEO voice demanded. "Now that we have that shit out of the way, give me an update on my girlfriend."
Dr. Wiseman began speaking again. "Ms. Steele is currently unconscious but is in stable condition.
She needs surgery to repair the damage to her shoulder. Our second area of concern is abdominal swelling on her left side indicating possible internal bleeding. Our third area of concern is the indication of a potential broken leg. X-rays were taken but were still being reviewed by the orthopedic doctor when we came to speak with you.
Once the older doctor finished speaking a younger man began speaking. "Mr. Grey, I am Dr. Beckman. I am the surgeon on staff this evening. I will begin operating on Ms. Steele and will handover her care to the Chief of Surgery, Dr. Zou when he arrives. Dr. Krummen has also been called in for the surgical incision closings. She is the best plastic surgeon in the Pacific Northwest."
The doctor paused briefly before continuing the consultation. "While the procedures Ms. Steele needs are fairly routine, no surgical procedure is without risk, Ms. Steele appears to be in excellent health and chance of a full recovery are excellent. However, we do need to begin operating as quickly as possible to reduce the changes for infection. You need to review and sign these forms as soon as possible."
Christian picked up the clipboard of forms that had been placed in front of him and began reviewing the documents. At first the forms appeared straight forward giving permission to operate. When he started reading about the risks he turned to his mother sitting beside him. "Mother, can she really die simply from being put under anesthesia?"
"Christian, the chances of that are extremely rare. Her shoulder is not going to heal well on its own and if there is internal bleeding the possible of her death is extremely high without the surgery."
Christian's face went ghostly white and his mother continued. "Look son, you analyze business deals everyday weighing the risks vs the rewards. Your girlfriend needs this surgery there is really nothing to consider. Sign the forms and let the good doctors do their jobs."
His mother was correct he did weigh risk vs rewards in business every day. But this wasn't business, it was life and death. Trusting his mother he and picked up the pen attached to the clipboard by a string and began signing all the documents. When he finished he addressed the medical staff again. " Is there time for me to see Ms. Steele before the surgery?"
Dr. Beckman stood up saying, "Dr. Trevelyan, Take your son to see his girlfriend while I checked on the preparation status of the operating room."