31. David
31
DAVID
I ducked into the bathroom and washed my face. My hands shook so badly I couldn't type on my phone, so I shoved it into my pocket and tried to relax. It was too much for a single person to handle—the uncertainty with Lauren, the fear of losing her, the accusations against me, my job up for grabs. And now, learning that the board called Lauren upstairs to the boardroom only added to the emotion I was carrying. I felt like I was going to punch the wall.
None of this should have happened. Not a single bit. That night she came up to me out of the blue, I could have stayed there, called the police. It would have nipped all of this in the bud, and maybe it would have changed the way she and I interacted. Maybe I'd never have gotten the chance to know her the way I did now, or maybe things would have developed anyway. Either way, I wouldn't be in this mess and dragging her down with me.
Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I noticed sad, tired eyes that glinted with anger. I didn't recognize myself right now. I'd become a defensive, angry man, all in the attempt to control my future, and it wasn't working. Things were well past unraveling, and I knew it. I was looking defeat right in the eye and it was mocking me.
"Dr. Park?" The male voice interrupted my thoughts, and I turned to see Dr. Holt standing in the doorway. "A second?"
"Yeah…" I grabbed a few paper towels and wiped my face and hands. I was in no shape to diagnose a patient, let alone one who affected me so much emotionally.
"We spoke with Dr. Burgeon, but he said it's your call because it's your department. I think we need to transfer Jason Newhouse to Mercy. They're better equipped for this sort of thing than we are, and?—"
"Do it," I interrupted with a wave of my hand, and I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. I ignored it because I couldn't even think of dealing with one more thing. I slid my hand into my pocket and pushed the power button, silencing the call.
"Yes, sir," he said, and he scurried off to get the transfer done. He was right. Mercy was a much better hospital for patients of drug overdose, and their inpatient and outpatient treatment centers were far better at treating addicts. Our Lady was a heart hospital, so ill-equipped for that sort of thing it was laughable. I understood why Lauren wanted Jason in the other program.
I had to find Henry and hand over the reins, at least for today. My mental state was rapidly deteriorating and I just wanted to go home. If they were going to sack me anyway, I might as well use up my paid time off and attempt to look for a new job in the process.
I started for the diagnostics lab, but halfway to the elevator, I ran into Dr. Burgeon. He looked a little lighter, less angry with me. I chalked that up to my going off on him and his realizing there were just a few days left to deal with me. It was probably a weight off his shoulders.
"Dr. Park, the board would like to speak with you upstairs." Henry gestured at the elevators, but I rolled my eyes and scowled.
"No, thank you. I'm going home." I walked around him and stalked toward the break room where I could get a cup of coffee before collecting anything important from my office before going home.
"Dr. Park, that wasn't a suggestion." Henry followed me, and the annoyance crept back into his tone. "You are to go upstairs immediately."
He was a monkey on my back, and I was glad I hadn't answered that call. It was probably him demanding I go upstairs and he'd come looking for me because I hadn't answered. These sorts of things were always better done in person and not on the phone. If they were going to fire me, I was getting what I deserved and then I was going to quit.
"Henry, just back off. I'm really not in the mood. Can't you see I'm going through something?" I continued walking and he stayed right in step.
"David, as a friend, I'm telling you, you need to go upstairs." He walked in front of me and stood in my way. I'd never considered him my friend. Sue, maybe, but not this man. But here he was, extending an olive branch, and after I went off on him, he didn't retaliate. He'd deferred my team's questions to my judgment. Maybe I owed him that much. I glowered but I relented.
"Fine, but I'm taking my PTO when this is over. I have seven days, and I want them all."
The walk to the elevator and up to the boardroom was silent. I let my head drop and closed my eyes. The instrumental version of Fields of Gold playing over the speaker in the elevator reminded me of the first time Lauren got in my car and we heard that song. Everything came down to her. My world would never be right again if we didn't somehow pull through this. And what would my own daughter say if she found out?
"After you," Henry said, holding the door open when we got to our floor.
I led the way to the boardroom where the detectives and other board members were seated and waiting. Sue looked a little less angry than previous meetings, and there was light banter happening that dropped off to static silence when I walked in. Henry followed and stood by me at the foot of the table. I didn't even want to sit down for this. I wanted it over.
"Dr. Park, thank you for joining us." Sue stood and smoothed her hands down the front of her suit. "We have some updates for you. Detective, would you like to go first?" She looked at the larger of the two cops, and he nodded.
"Dr. Park, we are dropping the charges against you. We've spoken with the DA, who has advised the victim of his rights. You may still encounter a civil suit for damages, but the woman in question has come forward to your defense and corroborated your story. You are no longer a suspect and your self-defense story checks out. The DA isn’t interested in pressing charges now." His head nodded the entire time he spoke like a bobble head, and I had mixed emotions.
"She came forward?" I asked, slowly deducing what had happened. She was called up here and they probably asked her about me. She had too good of a heart to let me suffer. I knew that. It was why I never wanted her involved.
"Yes, and the charges are dropped." The detective put a pen in his breast pocket of his coat and then folded his hands in his lap. So just like that, I was off the hook with the police. But would the board have something to say now?
The lawyer wasn't even here, which I found confusing, but none of this had made sense from the beginning. When Henry joined Sue at the other end of the table, I knew they were about to announce my fate. At this point, they could tell me I was being burned at the stake and it wouldn’t matter. My heart was too raw, anyway. My center of gravity had been stolen the instant Lauren stopped talking to me.
"And?" I mumbled. I felt like I was lined up for a firing squad.
"Dr. Park, your defense of Dr. Newhouse was honorable. I'm certain when the media gets wind of this, they will want to hear the story from one or both of you." Sue folded her hands in front of her waist and let her arms hang. Somehow, I knew that wasn't all she had to say. "But you broke the non-fraternization policy we have here at the hospital, and for that you must have repercussions. Had you come to us earlier in this process and announced it, HR would have worked with you, but you hid it and that is unacceptable."
She paused, letting Henry step forward, and I waited to hear how bad my punishment would be. "David, man to man, let me tell you that getting one of your employees pregnant and thinking you could hide it is just reprehensible. I'm ashamed to admit you work here… But the board is going to forgive your indiscretion." Henry's words were a jolt to my system.
"What?" I mumbled, only halfway listening as Sue continued where she left off.
"Dr. Newhouse will be terminated, and you will serve six months of probation under the direct supervision of Dr. Burgeon. Is that clear?"
Lauren was pregnant? And she didn't tell me? And how did the board know? I pressed a hand to my forehead and felt dizzy.
"Is that clear, Dr. Park?" Sue asked again, and I nodded as I gripped the back of the chair in front of me to steady myself.
How long had she been keeping it a secret? I calculated the weeks in my head and realized that night she begged me not to pull out because she was feeling so good had to be it. There was no other time, no other way… She was already eight weeks? My God.
"You may go," Henry said, "and enjoy your PTO. We'll hold down the fort."
I stumbled into the hallway, fumbling for my phone in my pocket. The missed call was Lauren, not Henry. What on earth was I going to say to her now? I felt like the yo-yo I’d been riding on had become so violent it was trying to shake me loose. Lauren was hiding a baby from me? The way Claire kept Lexi from me for years? My God… This was not happening. I was not going to let her do this to me. If she was too hurt by my actions, then fine. We'd have an argument and it would be over, but if she was having my baby, I was going to be in its life.
I couldn't believe she'd do this to me.