Unchained Memories (14 page)

“That stinks,” Annie admitted. “But, you’re just going to have to suck it up and deal with it. You’re a lawyer. A professional. You have a job to do. A client to represent.” She softened her tone. “Gina needs you. Besides, just because you add Dr. Branson as a defendant doesn’t mean he’s culpable. You know that as well as I do.”

“True. But he won’t look at it that way. He’ll see me as pointing the finger at him. Making him prove it was someone else at his hospital. That will not endear me to him. And Clay will probably never speak to me again.”

“Dr. Branson must know there’s a possibility he’d be brought into this suit. Don’t you think he already knows Gina Belton started out in the ER? Those ER docs get dragged into all kinds of lawsuits because they’re the first ones to touch a patient.”

Charlotte shrugged. It hadn’t been her experience thus far. If true, when would they ever have time to practice medicine? And why would they? It couldn’t be a frequent occurrence.

“I should tell Clay.” Her sigh reverberated off the walls. “I can’t just let him find out from Matt when he gets served with the complaint.”

Her head pounded at the thought of that meeting, a far cry from the sensuously possessive kiss he had given her not all that long ago on her front porch. The kiss she’d been daydreaming about just a half hour before—until the ER records came in.

“Do you want me to go with you? For moral support?”

Charlotte saw the compassion in her friend’s eyes. “Thanks. But I need to do this myself.”

She rose and headed back to her office, trying to pull herself out of the funk she’d spiraled into. She couldn’t have been so naïve as to think she would be able to avoid lawsuits against doctors at Nassau General. She’d chosen this field. And she was working in Princeton. It was time to develop thicker skin, do what she had to do.

Gina deserved it.

So did Charlotte’s mother.

Chapter Thirteen

“Is Dr. Montgomery back there?” The emergency room receptionist spoke into the phone while copying someone’s insurance card information onto a form. “There’s a Charlotte Taylor here to see him.”

Charlotte stood outside the ER, her foot tapping to the rhythm of her pounding heart as she waited for a response. Her hands were cold, her neck hot, her mouth dry and her body poised for flight.

Before ten seconds had elapsed, Charlotte said to the receptionist, “If he’s not available, that’s fine. I’ll come back some other time.” She turned to leave, angst pushing her to escape.

“Just a minute, Ms. Taylor.” She held up her finger and spoke into the phone. “Yes, okay I’ll tell her.” She hung up. “He’ll be right out.”

Charlotte’s stomach plummeted and she silently cursed her bad luck in tracking him down. And so quickly. But there was still hope he’d be too busy to talk long. He had to be involved in an emergency.
Please
.

The door swung open and there he was. A two day beard framed his jaw and his dark brown hair could only be considered rumpled. Gorgeous, sexy and hot. A smile broke out, reaching all the way to his beautiful eyes, and Charlotte couldn’t help but smile back, even as her heart jumped into her throat.

“To what do I owe this honor?” he teased as he motioned for her to enter the ER. Clay escorted her to a small conference room and pulled her in before closing the door. “I missed you.”

Startled by his words and actions, she failed to summon her voice. He didn’t seem to mind. He backed her up against the wall and covered her mouth with his.

A slow, seductive, erotic kiss jangled her thoughts and paralyzed her self-preservation reflex. Helpless, she kissed him back, blocking out everything but the sensation of Clay against her, sending her to dangerous heights. Her arms wound around his neck, and her body moved against his. She felt like liquid fire as she molded herself to him. He stroked her neck with his tongue, sending tingly shocks to body parts better left alone. In a haze, she felt his hand slide inside her jacket and ease over the silky material of her blouse, grazing her breast. The exquisite pleasure had her arching her back, and a moan escaped her mouth. She surfaced and grabbed hold of his wrist.

“We can’t,” she rasped, opening her eyes to the harsh light of the room.

She looked into his eyes, sensuously serious, pulling at her willpower, or lack thereof. Clasping his hand to her chest, she was sure he could feel the runaway beat of her heart. How could she have stopped him? But she had to. She had come to tell him something.

Something that would make him hate her.

And here she was, kissing him.

Charlotte shook her head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”

Clay put his finger over her lips. “You have nothing to apologize for. It was me who took advantage.” He exhaled and backed away from her. “You just look so damn sexy in your power suit. I didn’t think. I’m sorry.”

Heat blasted her cheeks at the surprising compliment and she mumbled incoherent words of acceptance, at a loss for a proper response.

He ran his hand through his tousled hair. “So, what brings you here?”

The question shocked her back to reality and a cool formality slipped into the room, uninvited, unwanted. Charlotte moved to the other side of the conference table, needing distance for what she was about to say.

She swallowed. “You know I have this case against the hospital and Dr. Gallway.”

“Yes. I know. I thought we were trying to avoid talking about work.”

“I would love to be able to stick to that plan, but something’s come up.”

Clay stiffened. “Go on.”

“I was meeting with my client and her parents the other day, or maybe it was last week, I’m not really sure of the date.” Her words now tumbled together and she couldn’t be sure they were intelligible. “Well, the date’s not important, but I learned during our meeting that Gina—Ms. Belton—had been in the ER.”

She paused, waiting for Clay to draw the disastrous conclusion without her having to say the words.

His eyes flashed in annoyance. “So? What difference does that make?”

“She was brought to the ER by ambulance. The accident took place—”

“Could you get to the point?” Annoyance had morphed into irritation and his arms crossed over his chest, a defensive move if she were to analyze it.

She nodded, feeling the pressure build around her lungs. “I received the ER report today. She was a patient of Matt’s.” She dared to look at him. See his reaction. Nothing at first. As if he didn’t hear her. Or couldn’t process the words.

The magnitude of her statement finally hit him. His mouth dropped open. Then closed. She waited for a response. Nothing. She stared at the floor, hoping for a question, a statement, something. Until the silence became deafening. She raised her eyes to look at him again. And wished she hadn’t. There it was. The pain of betrayal.

Finally, he spoke, his voice steely. “You’re going to sue Matt?”

“I’m sorry, Clay. I have to add him as a defendant. She’s my client. She—”

He held up his hand. “Stop. Don’t give me your excuses. Don’t rationalize this to me. I will never understand what you do for a living. I had hoped we could skate around it. Ignore it. But we can’t. Thanks for the warning. I’ll tell Matt.”

With that, he opened the door and disappeared.

Shivers coursed through her body and she was powerless to move, as if frozen in place by Clay’s Arctic chill. She couldn’t leave it like this, yet she was certain Clay wouldn’t hear her out. Not now.

Besides, what more could she say?

The passionate kiss that could have led to so much had been doused with a few ruinous words. Her career choice was the death knell for any relationship she might have fantasized about.

A tear slipped down her cheek and she hastily brushed it away. She had a right to choose whichever career she wanted. She had a self-imposed obligation to avenge her mother’s death. To right the wrongs of the medical care system. If that meant suing Nassau General and one or two of its doctors, so be it. No one should be able to interfere with that choice.

Not even Clay.

Charlotte inhaled to steady her nerves, then, with tunnel vision in place, she exited the ER and headed for the elevator.

****

“Excuse me, Dr. Collins—Richard.” Charlotte stood in his doorway, feeling wooden, devoid of feeling. She needed to summon her strength, find her center. And tell him about adding Matt to the lawsuit.

“Charlotte! How nice to see you.” Richard smiled at her as he set aside the papers he’d been studying. If he only knew. “Come in. Please. Have a seat.”

Charlotte inched into his office. “Do you mind if I close the door?”

He arched an eyebrow in question, but nodded.

She sat in front of his desk and clasped her hands in her lap, seeking the words that would allow him to understand what she had to do, the words that would persuade him to soften his beliefs in light of her conviction.

He waited without comment, until she began. “I wanted you to hear this from me, and not through the hospital grapevine.”

Then she told him.

His gray eyes didn’t give much away, although she thought she saw a hint of sadness there. “Are you coming to me as a friend or as the chief of surgery?”

His quiet question underscored their unbroken bond and she bit her lip in an effort to erase the sting of tears behind her eyes.

“As a friend.” Her voice rasped against strangled vocal chords. “I never thought I’d be doing this...suing the hospital. Or one of the doctors I know.”

This was so much more than a law firm suing an institution. It had become personal. Charlotte Taylor was suing Matthew Branson. Not only a doctor who had helped her when she’d needed it, but a very good friend of Clay’s and a protégé of Dr. Collins.

Richard shook his head. “It was inevitable. Working at a Princeton law firm, specializing in medical malpractice. It was just a matter of time before you’d be involved in a suit against us. Unfortunately, you have to add an old acquaintance as a defendant.” He sighed, long and hard. This was affecting him more than she’d hoped. “Even if Matt didn’t do anything wrong, which I’m sure he didn’t, he’s going to be forced to prove it. That’s the nature of our judicial system. But of course, you know that.” His measured words attempted to keep the censure out, but Charlotte felt it in every pore.

He steepled his hands under his chin. “Why did you go into the field of medical malpractice?”

“To follow in my parents’ footsteps.” Her standard answer.

His brow shot up in skepticism. “That may be why you became a lawyer, but why malpractice?”

The knot in Charlotte’s stomach grew, as it always did when she thought about her mother’s death. But she couldn’t state the reason out loud. Not to him. It was too close to him, to his hospital, to his doctors.

Recognizing she wasn’t going to answer, Richard spoke again. “You’ve chosen your career path. You need to follow it through. You have a client who is depending on you. You’re a smart, young woman with a brilliant career ahead of you. Of course, I’m speaking as your friend and not as the chief of surgery of this hospital. Do what you have to do, Charlotte. Something in your past has dictated your future. So be it.”

Her nails dug into her palms. He’d been a welcome presence in her life during her hospitalization. Her behind-the-scenes guardian. He was a good man. But he couldn’t accomplish the impossible. He couldn’t make her feel better about this.

No one could do that for her. A heavy weight settled on her shoulders and it was up to her to carry it around or shake it off.

She knew what she had to do. She’d made her decision years ago and she had a good reason for it. Nothing should throw her off kilter or make her question her commitment to her career. She needed to focus on her goal and not on the ancillary issues it raised.

Strength, decisiveness, and stick-to-it-tiveness were the traits she’d honed to get her where she was today. And she’d be damned if she were going to back down now.

She was on her own.

Just as she’d been for the last ten years of her life.

Chapter Fourteen

Charlotte walked over to the television standing in the corner of the conference room, inserted the DVD and pressed the play button. It was the DVD she’d planned to use at trial showing a day in the life of Gina Belton. It had been filmed by a videographer they’d hired and she knew it would be heartbreaking to watch.

Dimming the lights and closing the door, Charlotte sat alone, watching, for the first time, the footage that would convince a jury to find in favor of her client. She inhaled, trying to tamp down the bone-deep sorrow sure to take over her senses.

The camera zoomed into a semi-dark room where Gina lay in a hospital-styled bed, her eyes open, staring at the ceiling. The clock on her nightstand showed six thirty a.m. The heavy curtains were drawn against the morning light. The camera panned out, then in again, this time at seven a.m. Gina lay in the same spot, waiting, waiting for someone to come and rescue her from her bed.

Mrs. Belton walked in, dressed in sweat pants and shirt, ready for her day with Gina. “Good morning, honey. Have you been awake long?”

“Since six.” Gina’s voice was hoarse, as if she had a cold.

“So let’s get you up and out of bed.” Her mother’s tone tried for pleasant, but the length and weight of the coming day crept into it, as one difficult twenty-four hour period led to the next, to the next, to the next...

Gina’s mother slid down the adjustable rail on the side of the bed, and lowered the bed with the remote control. With one hand, she positioned a wheel chair to the side and levered her other arm under Gina’s back to push her into a sitting position. The physical strength required to move Gina from bed to wheel chair was evident, and it was hard to believe the slight five-foot-two woman could accomplish that maneuver on her own. She’d undoubtedly had practice.

Mrs. Belton then wheeled Gina into the bathroom, a bathroom renovated to accommodate a wheel chair and the needs of a quadriplegic. The sink stood lower than most, allowing Gina to get close to it while sitting. Her mother washed her face, brushed her teeth and combed her hair with a combination of efficiency and love. The camera stopped short of capturing the most intimate necessities of the human body, and picked up again when Gina’s mother brought her to the kitchen for breakfast.