Broken Lion (37 page)

Finally, I dropped into the chair.

The room was dead silent.

The doctors stared at me, stone faced.

Vikki stared at me, her eyes a mile wide.

Brigid stared at her lap.

She was either pleased or incredibly pissed off.

It didn’t matter which. Somebody needed to do something drastic today, and I was always the go-to guy for drastic when the situation called for it. I could take drastic all the way to the final bell.

But.

They kept on staring.

Had I pushed it too far?

The head guy in the middle of the table cleared his throat and said, “Mr. Maxwell, are you aware that your consent is not a defense against the charges of sexual misconduct?”

Shit.

Chapter 43

BRIGID

The committee was silent.

Oh. No.

The entire time Lion had been giving his speech, I’d felt hope that his passion and honesty would sway them and save the day. But I hadn’t realized that it wouldn’t make any difference. The rules were the rules.

Lion said to Sidney Copeland, “Yeah, I know my consent isn’t a defense. But you gotta understand, when it comes to women, I don’t consent to anything. I take what I want. If I didn’t want Brigid, I wouldn’t have gone after her in the first place.”

I felt renewed hope. That was absolutely true. The sexual misconduct rules always seemed geared more toward male doctors. This was different.

Copeland said, “Her consent is not a defense either, Mr. Maxwell. This is a question of professional responsibility. Dr. Flanagan’s role is as a caregiver only. She violated that role when she consented to a sexual-romantic relationship with you.”

This is what I’d feared all along. Dating Lion was against the rules, plain and simple. They were black and white and I’d foolishly broken them with blatant disregard and now it was time to pay the price for my transgressions.

“Yeah,” Lion said, “but, don’t forget I dumped her as my doctor right away. We didn’t start dating until after we bumped into each other by chance at my dojo. More importantly, if I’m not mistaken, according to section 726(b) of the Business and Professional Code of California, none of the rules about no sex with patients apply to a doctor married to her patient.”

I leaned against Vikki and whispered, “Is that true?”

She flipped through a bunch of papers she had in her lap. “I believe it is. He really did his research.”

“But we’re not married,” I hissed.

Lion stood up from his chair by the wall and walked over to me and knelt down with a grunt. “Shit. Sorry. Still in rehab for the knee. Brigid, I wanted to do this afterward, but these guys aren’t taking no for an answer. I won’t either.” He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a velvet box and opened it. “Brigid Flanagan, I have only one thing left to say.”

I hissed barely above a whisper, “Are you insane?”

“Yes,” he chuckled. “Insanely in love with you. Brigid, from the moment I first saw you, I knew you were the woman for me. I’ve been asking myself every day, how did I get so fucking lucky? How? I don’t know the answer to that, but I do know that after all the time we’ve spent together, I was right all along about you. You’re the only woman for me. The only woman I’ll ever want and the only woman I’ll ever need. And I want to marry you, Brigid. Marry the fuck out of you. I want to make a family with you and Daniel and our baby.” Lion turned to the panel, “That’s right. She’s pregnant with my kid. Can you guys believe it?” He was exuberantly happy.

I cringed, scared out of my mind. He’d just made things worse by telling them that.

“Brigid Flanagan, will you marry me?”

My heart raced.

I saw my career crumbling before my eyes.

I also saw the one man who would do anything to help me, staring up at me with that adorably boyish grin of his. Despite the gravity of the situation, despite the rules, and despite my fear that Lion’s crude speech had just made everything ten times worse, I knew with absolute certainty that I loved this man.

“Yes,” I whispered as tears blurred my vision.

Amazingly, his boyish grin got a little bit wider and a little bit brighter. “Are you sure?” His eyes were wet too.

“Yes I’m sure, you idiot.” I leaned over and kissed him, holding his cheeks in my palms. The kiss was so powerful, so loving, so totally encompassing, I completely forgot where I was.

“I need to put the ring on.”

“Oh. Right.”

He slid it on my shaking finger.

I wasn’t sure what the brownish-gold stone was, but the intricate design was clear as day. A roaring lion head holding the stone in its toothy maw. I tried not to laugh at how garish it was. But, as cheesy as it was, I absolutely loved it.

“The stone is Tiger’s Eye because they don’t make a Lion’s eye. But you get the idea. It’s so everyone will know you’re with me. I know it’s a cheap stone, but the sentiment is priceless.”

“I love you so much, you priceless idiot,” I laughed softly and kissed his forehead.

“There’s one other thing.” He stood up, pushing down on his bad knee to help him stand. He walked over to the door and picked up a brown paper bag he’d set down when he first came in. He walked past me and put the bag on the table in front of Chief Medical Officer Sidney Copeland. The bag rumpled loudly as he opened it and reached inside. “A little visual aid for you guys. Take a look and pass this down the line.”

I was far enough away that I couldn’t see the details, but the thing from Lion’s bag was some kind of wood carving.

“In case you guys think I’m full of shit,” Lion said, “take a look at this carving I made for Brigid. I’ve been working on this since I met her. Took months. You can all see that it’s three lions. A papa lion, a mama lion, and a baby lion cub.”

The members of the committee leaned over to better see the carving held by Dr. Copeland. I was dying to jump out of my seat so I could see it too, but I didn’t want to ruin the moment. I felt like the second I moved, I’d wake up and realize all this was a dream and Lion wasn’t really here and I was one second away from losing my job.

Lion said, “If you can’t figure it out, the papa lion is me, Brigid is the mama, and the cub is her kid, Daniel Wright. Great kid, by the way. The only problem is, I didn’t know Brigid was pregnant when I started carving this months ago. Shit, I hadn’t even gone on a date with her, let alone had sex with her. But I knew, you guys. I knew. That’s why I started carving it way back then. Anyway, now there should be four lions on here instead of three because we’re having a baby.” He turned and flashed an excited smile at me.

Now that everything was out on the table, there was no going back from this.

Lion continued, “I wanted you guys to see this so you’d realize I’ve been serious about Brigid since day one. This isn’t some bullshit scam we cooked up yesterday. This is the real deal. This is true love. The shit poets write poems about. Brigid Flanagan is carrying my child. I’m going to be a father. Brigid and I are building a family together. How is that wrong? How is that breaking any rules? Do you guys think I didn’t know what I was doing when I put my dick in her? I wasn’t just fucking her. I was falling in love with my future wife. What do you say, Irish?” He held out his hand. “Wanna go down to the courthouse and tie the knot right now? Make it official?”

I looked between Lion and the committee. “I don’t know. Can we?” It was crazy to ask, but I had to. Maybe my boldness was as important as his. I looked right at Sidney Copeland who was glaring back. “After we’re through here, of course. But I am going to marry Lion Maxwell as soon as we get to the courthouse and I sign the papers.”

Lion gently squeezed my hands in his. “Forget them, Brigid. Do you want to go make this official? The worst they can do is take away your medical license, but they can never take you away from me. They can never take away our love.”

I was shocked by his naked honesty and his boldness. No one had ever stood up for me like this before. But I didn’t want to lose my medical license. I wanted to keep it and keep working here at LACH
and
be married to Lion. Could I have both? I looked to the members of the committee.

They stared back at us.

This was it.

This was the moment they decided the fate of my career.

Dr. Copeland turned and whispered back and forth with Cynthia Badhoff and the representatives from the Medical Board. All were frowning and serious and intent. I couldn’t make out a word they were saying. When they finished, Dr. Copeland spoke directly to me.

“Dr. Flanagan, does Mr. Maxwell’s description of events match yours?”

I took a deep breath because I was shaking like crazy. “Yes.” I gave them a brief rundown of the events starting with the night I met Lion, his request for a different doctor, my discharging him, and finally bumping into him by chance weeks later at the grand opening of his karate school.

Lion said, “Don’t forget, guys, once we bumped into each other at my dojo, I wouldn’t leave her alone.”

Dr. Tanaka, the Chairman of Orthopedics, said very seriously, “Dr. Flanagan, is this a case of sexual harassment on the part of Mr. Maxwell?”

I chuckled, “Oh, goodness no. I wanted him to pursue me. I just don’t think either of us wanted to wait six or twelve months.”

Lion smirked, “Hell no I didn’t want to wait. I mean, look at this red hot bombshell. She’s a fucking fox. My fucking fox.” He grinned his adorable grin and brushed a lock of hair behind my ear.

Next to me, Vikki Baxter stifled a snicker.

No one else on the committee said anything, but their faces were unreadable.

I said, “Oh, and I’m only six weeks pregnant. So you can see from the timeline that we didn’t start having sex until long after—”

“Thank you, Dr. Flanagan,” Copeland grumbled. “That’s enough.”

“Sorry,” I muttered.

He leaned over and chatted with Cynthia and the Medical Board representatives. After almost two minutes of whispering back and forth, he said to me, “I believe the committee needs a few minutes to confer in private. If you would be so kind as to wait outside with your attorney and Mr. Maxwell.”

“Yes, of course.” I stood.

Vikki stood too.

Lion pointed at his carving on the committee table, “Be careful with that. It’s my wedding present to my wife and it’s one of a kind, just like her.”

My heart melted when he said that.

The three of us walked outside and closed the doors to the meeting room.

“My goodness, Mr. Maxwell,” Vikki said, “you sure put on quite a show.”

“You should see me in the cage,” he chuckled. He rubbed my back. “And the bedroom.”

My eyes popped.

Vikki looked away, grinning with embarrassment.

Theatrics were fine for a professional fight, but I didn’t know if they’d work for an ethics committee.

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

The three of us were still sitting in the waiting area an hour later. Well, Vikki and I were. Lion had paced the entire time despite his knee.

“They’ve got to give this to you,” he said. “If they don’t, they’re heartless bottom feeding maggots.”

Michelle from HR opened the door, surprising all of us. She said, “The maggots will see you now.”

I leaned over to Vikki and whispered, “Did she just say maggots?”

“I heard committee.”

“I am losing my mind.”

She patted my hand. “Relax. I think we’re good.”

We all filed toward the doors.

Lion stopped and asked Michelle, “Can I come in too?”

“Um…” she turned into the room. “Can Mr. Maxwell come in?”

Mumbling from inside.

I couldn’t hear anything.

Michelle nodded to the committee then said to Lion, “That would be fine, Mr. Maxwell. But the committee asks that you not say anything else or interrupt in any way.”

Vikki and I both glared at Lion.

“What? I can keep my mouth shut.”

We all filed into the room. Vikki sat down.

I said, “Lion, do you want my chair? For your knee?”

“You sit. You’re the pregnant one.”

I smiled. I wasn’t going to argue. I sat down and he stood behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. I reached up and squeezed one for comfort.

Sidney Copeland said, “Mr. Maxwell, do you need a chair?”

“I’m good. I’ll stand. Behind my wife. The woman I love. The mother of my child. The best mother—”

Copeland cleared his throat. “That’s enough, Mr. Maxwell. We get the idea.”

“Right. Sorry.”

“Dr. Flanagan,” Copeland said, “you have tread very close to crossing over the limits of professional responsibility and propriety in this situation. The bond between doctor and patient is a sacred one not to be taken lightly. It requires the utmost care and respect. Without that respect, we as physicians do a disservice to our patients and the community at large. Their care must always come first. In light of recent circumstances involving your fiancé, and in consideration of Dr. Hackett’s confirmation that you did indeed discharge Mr. Maxwell at his own request while in the presence of Dr. Hackett, and due to the fact that Mr. Maxwell has made no allegations against you, we the committee have decided…”

I leaned forward on the edge of my seat.

So did Vikki.

“…that your actions do not constitute a violation of the ethical standards or codes of conduct of either the hospital or the state medical board, and that your actions and intentions ultimately fell within the bounds of your professional responsibility toward your patient.”

Silence settled over the room.

Lion leaned down and whispered in my ear, “What the fuck did he just say?” The room was so quiet, everybody could hear him.

Dr. Hackett cleared his throat. “Dr. Copeland just said that Brigid is off the hook.” He smiled at me, then Lion. “Brilliant wood carving by the way, Mr. Maxwell. I never would’ve pegged you for an artist.”

“Hell yeah!” Lion cheered and pumped a fist in the air.

Relief.

<<<<<<<>>>>>>>

“Mind if I have a word?” Dr. Hackett called from behind as we waited outside the meeting room by the elevators.

Lion had his arm around my shoulders and Vikki stood beside me. I was busy admiring Lion’s wood carving of the three lions. It was incredible, just like the man who made it.