It's Nothing Personal (25 page)

Allison leaned in closer to Jenna.
 
“Doctor, you didn’t answer my
question.
 
I asked you who!
 
Give me a name!
 
Who told you the OR was an environment
where you can leave narcotics unlocked and unsecured?”

“I never left my drugs unlocked and
unsecured.
 
My drugs were in a
secure environment.”

Allison countered, her frustration
escalating, “And again, I know that is your mantra, but that’s not what I am
asking.
 
Tell me a name of an
attending, a mentor, anyone who would say that your practice regarding the
storage of narcotics was acceptable.”
 

“I can give you the names of the attendings
that I can remember, if that’s what you want.”

“Please do,” replied Allison snidely.

Jenna searched her memory.
 
“Well, there was Dr. Brad Thomas, Dr.
Bob Watkins, Dr. Jim Bloom, Dr. Bonnie Monroe.
 
That’s all I can remember off the top of
my head.
 
It was over ten years ago
that I trained.”

Allison then asked, “Are you telling me that
any of these doctors that you just named, doctors that were involved in your
training during residency, would be happy to testify, under oath, that the
operating room is a secure environment where it is acceptable to leave
narcotics unattended?”

Jenna responded with a hint of
agitation.
 
She was starting to
slip.
 
“I can’t tell you what
somebody would or would not say under oath, but I can tell you that, if they
told the truth, they would agree with my testimony.
 
As to whether or not they would be happy
to come and testify in front of you or a court, I don’t think anybody would be
happy about having to do that.”

Before Allison could fire her next question,
Jenna quickly added, “I’d like to take a break now.”

Allison commanded, “No, we are not taking a
break!
 
I still have questions!”

Nancy jumped to Jenna’s defense, “Allison,
there are no questions pending.
 
If
my client needs a break, she is entitled to a break.”

“Your client,” Allison scoffed, “has wasted
a great deal of time reciting her mantra and evading my questions.
 
I still have questions.
 
We can break in a few minutes.”

Jenna’s bladder was painfully
distended.
 
Not only did Jenna need
an emotional break, but she also seriously needed to relieve herself.
 
Annoyed that Allison Anders was changing
the rules midstream, and certain that it was completely inappropriate, Jenna
spoke up with determination.
 

“You said in the beginning that I could take
a break whenever I needed one.
 
I
answered your last question.
 
I’m
requesting a break.
 
I have to use
the restroom . . . badly.
 
I need a
break, and I’m taking one.
 
Now!”
 

Jenna stood and was already at the door by
the time Allison was able to respond.
 
Jim and Nancy were right behind her.
 
Left behind at the table, Allison
pouted.
 
Throwing her hands up in
the air, she said, “Fine, let’s take a break.
 
Why not make it a lunch break while
we’re at it?
 
We’ll meet back here
in thirty minutes.”

A smirk crept across Jenna’s face as she
punched the button for the elevator.

CHAPTER 35

Jenna, Jim, and Nancy rode the elevator in
silence down to the ground floor and headed to the building’s café.
 
Jenna quickly used the restroom and then
joined Jim and Nancy at the deli counter.
 
Her attorneys each grabbed themselves a sandwich.
 
Jenna felt mildly nauseated, and the
prepackaged food was enormously unappealing.
 
Nancy knew Jenna needed something in her
stomach to sustain her for the afternoon.
 
In a motherly tone, she said, “At least grab a salad or some chips.
 
You need to eat.”
 
Obediently, Jenna chose a Caesar salad
and went to find a table where they could be alone.
 

While she waited for Jim and Nancy to pay
the cashier, Jenna inconspicuously swallowed another beta-blocker.
 
The pill Jenna had taken earlier that
morning had helped her keep her cool, but she could feel its effects beginning
to wear off.
 
Jim and Nancy each sat
on opposite sides of Jenna.
 

Jenna looked at her lawyers and unloaded.
 
“That woman,” Jenna said with unbridled
fury, “is a cunt!
 
And trust me, I
don’t use that term indiscriminately!”
 

Jenna was careful not to say the word too
loudly.
 
It was not her style to use
such extreme vulgarity, but in this situation, she felt it was justified.

Neither of her lawyers reacted to Jenna’s
swearword with disapproval or judgment.
 
Nancy simply nodded, as she replied matter-of-factly, “Yes, she is.”

Jenna continued to rant, her face contorted
with rage.
 
“How can she act like
that?
 
First of all, who is she to
tell me that I can’t go to the bathroom?
 
I obeyed her every rule, exactly how she laid them out, and she has the
nerve to forbid me from peeing?
 
Is
she really that petty and immature?”
 
Jenna was livid.
 

Jim spoke up, “That was clearly out of line
on her part, and she knew it.
 
But
you handled it beautifully.
 
You
remained calm, you threw her rules right back in her face, and you refused to
be held hostage.
 
In fact, I think
her little spat back there shows that you are getting to her.

“Overall, Jenna, your deposition is going
exceptionally well.
 
There haven’t
been any major blunders.
 
You’ve
been polite, kept your answers brief, and haven’t shown any hint of being
intimidated.
 
Just keep it up.”

“Seriously?”
 
Jenna craved their reassurance.

“Trust us,” replied Nancy, “you’re doing
great.”

The three of them sat quietly at the
table.
 
While Jim and Nancy devoured
their sandwiches, Jenna pushed her wilted lettuce back and forth with a plastic
fork.
 
At Nancy’s insistence, she
took a couple of nibbles, but that was all.
 
She felt like they had just taken their
seats when Jim checked the time.
 

“We’ve got about eight minutes before we
need to go back up there.
 
Jenna,
would you like to go outside and get some fresh air?”

Jenna felt frozen, like her muscles would
not budge.
 

Jim touched her shoulder.
 
“Jenna?”

Her body shuddered as she broke out of her
spell.
 
“Huh?
 
Yeah, sounds great,” she said, anxious
to escape of the confines of the building.

The three of them stood outside while the
midday sun cast short shadows on the ground.
 
Jenna was quiet and lost in
thought.
 
So much so that she did
not notice Michelle Hollings walk past them and head to the parking lot, with
car keys in her hand.
 

Jim pointed it out.
 
“Looks like Ms. Hollings won’t be
joining us for the afternoon session.”

“Maybe she’s got some shopping to do with
her newly acquired wealth,” said Jenna contemptuously.

CHAPTER 36

Their thirty-minute reprieve came to an end,
and the threesome took the elevators back up to the sixth floor.
 
Jenna marched past the receptionist and
entered the conference room.
 
Allison walked in behind them looking extremely uptight and ready for an
ambush.
 
Jenna scrutinized her
adversary.
 
Allison held her head
high, her mouth was in a grimace, and her eyes were menacing.
 

The revolting cameraman once again
acknowledged that they were back on record.
 
He then flopped into his leather chair
and leaned back as if he were watching his favorite sports team.

Allison had not yet scooted in her chair
when she resumed her interrogation of Jenna.
 
“Dr. Reiner, are you familiar with the
DEA rules and regulations concerning the dispensing, handling, storage,
security, and administration of controlled substances?”

Jenna inhaled and responded, “I’m aware that
there are DEA guidelines.”

Allison did not blink as she scowled at
Jenna.
 
Her words were loud and
unnaturally slow, like she was communicating with a foreigner.
 
“Let me repeat my question, because you
failed to answer it.
 
This time, I’d
like a direct answer.
 
Dr. Reiner,
are you familiar with the DEA rules and regulations concerning the dispensing,
handling, storage, security, and administration of controlled substances that
would apply to you as an anesthesiologist in the operating room?”

Jenna reminded herself to stay calm and
maintain a slow, even tone.

Refusing to shy away from Allison’s
penetrating gaze, Jenna rested her arms on the table and leaned slightly closer
to her nemesis.
 
“I know that the
guidelines are overwhelmingly vast, comprising thousands of pages of
documentation.
 
Furthermore, most of
the guidelines apply to hospitals, doctors’ offices, and pharmacies where
medications are stored – not to individual practitioners.”
 

Allison clutched her pen tightly between her
thumb and index finger as she attacked Jenna with the same question, for the
third time.
 
“So your answer is ‘no’?
 
You don’t have any familiarity with the
DEA guidelines as they pertain to you as an anesthesiologist?”

Jenna remained still, her back straight, and
her eyes wide and attentive.
 

“It is impractical to expect that I would be
intimately familiar with the DEA guidelines.
 
I feel it is reasonable and legitimate
to rely upon the hospital administration, through their policies and
procedures, to guide me in such a way that I am in compliance.”

Allison let out a theatrical sigh and asked
Jenna with reproach, “Dr. Reiner, do you understand that your evasive answers
and failure to answer questions directly can be pointed out to a jury at
trial?”

Nancy interrupted, “Objection, form and
argumentative.”

Toying with Allison Anders was a dangerous
endeavor.
 
However, the glimmer in
Jenna’s eyes exposed the fact that she was beginning to enjoy frustrating the
attorney.
 
Jenna turned her head in Allison’s
direction.
 
With the front of her
face out of view of the camera, Jenna batted her eyelashes before answering.

When Jenna responded to the accusation, her face
was full of innocence and sincerity.
 
“Truly, I’m not trying to be evasive.
 
I’m just trying to be honest and make
sure that I explain myself.”

Allison snorted in exasperation.
 
“Dr. Reiner, do you have any specific
knowledge regarding any specific rule or regulation from the DEA, other than
what you infer from hospital policy?”

Jenna felt slight defeat, but she was not
about to let it show.
 
Without any
hint of humiliation or regret, she said, “No.”

Allison hastily changed the direction of the
conversation.
 
“Doctor, how do you
keep up to date with your profession?”

Jenna was inwardly grateful for a lighter
topic.
 
“I go to medical
conferences, I read textbooks, and I look up things on the Internet.”

“When was the last medical conference that
you attended?”

Jenna sensed this was leading up to
something, but she was not yet sure what.
 
Treading carefully, she answered, “This past January.”

“Which specific websites do you get your
information from?”

“No website in particular.”

Jenna was starting to grasp Allison’s tactics.
 
Allison reveled in starting with simple,
seemingly innocuous questions.
 
Questions that Jenna had no reason to fear and no reason to hesitate
before answering.
 
Then Allison
would try to keep her responding quickly, in hopes of preventing her from
thinking things through.
 
All the
while, the questions became increasingly perilous.
 
To her credit, Jenna was fighting
back.
 
She refused to let Allison
set the pace, and it was effective.

“So you don’t know any of the websites you
reference for your medical knowledge?
 
Wikipedia, perhaps?”
 
Allison
ridiculed Jenna.
 
At the other end
of the room, the cameraman snickered.

“No, I do not get my medical knowledge from
Wikipedia,” Jenna snapped.
 
Although
she wanted nothing more than to dive across the table and gouge Allison’s eyes
out, she never let it show.