Chapter 12
On Sunday afternoon, Raymond leaned back in his chair, scrubbed his face, and jumped to his feet to pace.
There wasn’t enough room in what he’d set up as his office, so he tried to go around the table.
Frustrated that he couldn’t seem to settle, he changed his slippers into his work boots, and went outside.
He ended up walking over to the race track, and felt relieved when he didn’t see anyone there.
Fifteen minutes later, he was walking back to his own cabin, and felt better once he returned.
He gathered his laptop, notes, and a light jacket.
He had thought his tee would have been enough, but his walk proved that it was still a little chilly for the time of year it was.
With everything he thought he’d need, he climbed into his truck and headed over to Broken Two.
He went by way of the road the entire way, and when he pulled up before the cabins, he didn’t see Amelia’s vehicle in front of the cabin she had chosen.
It made him glad he wouldn’t see her, because he was there for a different mission.
Armed with everything he brought with him, he walked over to the cabin where Jason and Ilsa lived, and ended up pounding on the door, not realizing how hard he had knocked until it was whipped open by Jason.
“What the hell, Morris? Are you trying to break in?”
“No, sorry, I’m just frustrated and didn’t realize how hard I knocked. Can I come in?”
“Sure,” Jason said, and stepped back. “Coffee or water?”
“Water for now. I don’t think my nerves will settle for some time. Is Ilsa around?”
“She’s over at Katherine and Caleb’s, do you need her?”
“I don’t know, I do know that I need to talk to you about this case I might have for Amelia. I’m not saying I don’t know what I’m doing, I do, but I need the advice from a federal prosecutor, not a lawyer, if you know what I mean.”
“I totally understand. Let me get you that drink, then we’ll sit down and talk.”
As Jason got the water, Raymond set up his laptop, and notes as he settled at the table.
“What do you have, and before you start at the point you are now, I know nothing about what you’re doing. All I know is that it’s a possible medical malpractice case. I don’t know the players, or the situation.”
Raymond liked that Jason had brought his own pad of paper and pen to the table to take his own notes.
He began with retelling what was said at the meeting with everyone there when Amelia and Betty had arrived two weeks ago, and then went on to tell him what Amelia had done on her last day of the job.
“I know what she obtained isn’t admissible in court, I do, however, some of the information she uncovered, I’ve been going over it last night and today.
It’s bad, Jason, I mean next level bad. Maybe even the possibility of death penalty bad.
From what I’ve read so far, it’s medical neglect, medical malpractice, unsafe practices, and even murder. ”
“Stop,” Jason said as he held up his hand. “What kind of proof do you have?”
Raymond told him about the CDs Amelia had discovered, how she had copied them to the drive, and that he had been reading the cases.
“Oh, I didn’t know where to put this in this conversation, I haven’t heard anything concrete yet, but Betty, the head nurse at the clinic told Amelia that Dr. Perkins wanted her to contact Shay to go in to see him on Monday, and to book an OR for Thursday.
” He looked at his laptop, found the information he’s stored to the cloud, and played the conversation between Betty and Amelia.
“Holy shit,” Jason said. “He just defamed Amelia.” Jason looked at him in shock and started to scribble furiously.
“I know, but I didn’t want to do anything yet, because just based on that conversation alone, it’s a he said, she said case, nothing that would stand up in court.
I’m hoping if Shay gets called in, then Naomi and Clark go with him, you know, concerned boss and property owner, and they can get both audio and video of his misaligning Amelia’s professional character. ”
“Yeah, that will stand up in court. What you have now won’t.
You’re good for waiting. But that’s not what’s got you in a tizzy.
I’m going to be honest here, Raymond. When I found out you were coming to work for Erin, I had my own background check done on you.
I know you’re a solid lawyer, so tell me, what has you in this state? ”
“What I’m about to show you is from those CDs Amelia found and downloaded to this drive.
There are fifteen cases, I know this information was obtained illegally.
I know I can’t use it, but I wanted to see what I’m dealing with.
Amelia also brought up the point that if these cases get destroyed if we go for a warrant for them, then we have these to work from. ”
“They won’t be admissible in court.”
“I know, shit,” he said sadly, scrubbed his face, and brought up what he had been reading before he’d gone for his walk. He went to the beginning of the file, and turned the laptop so Jason could read. “This is only the second file I read so far. Go ahead, read it.”
Jason scowled as he looked between Raymond and the laptop, but shrugged and began to read. Fifteen minutes later, he whipped his head up and glared at Raymond. Neither one of them heard the door open, or the two women that walked in, but they heard his question.
“ARE. YOU. FUCKING. KIDDING. ME!” Jason demanded as he looked between the computer and Raymond.
“What’s wrong?” Ilsa asked, and went to Jason’s side, she read at what he pointed to and actually jerked back like she had been slapped. “Holy shit.”
Amelia stood there in confusion, and went to the other side of Jason to read. She shook her head and sighed. “Figures.”
“What do you mean, figures?” Jason demanded, then gave his entire body a shake.
“I’m sorry, I’m not angry at you, but does this shit happen often?
He ignored the patient’s medical history, administered a drug the patient was allergic to, operated on the wrong limb, cut the femoral artery, without trying to patch it, causing the patient to bleed out on the table, then has the fucking audacity to tell the family that the patient refused to disclose their allergy.
Then if that’s not bad enough, he told the family of the deceased that shit happens?
” He whipped his head around and glared at Raymond.
“I want, no, I’m going to be your second. ”
“Thank god,” Raymond said, and everyone could see his relief.
“What’s that?” Amelia asked with a confused look on her face.
Raymond gave her a relieved smile.
“Think of it like this, when you’re in the operating room, do you have another doctor standing beside you, or across from you, watching everything you do, and helping you if you need it?”
“Yes, it’s standard operating procedure.”
“Okay, now picture the three of us, you, me, and Jason sitting at the table in the court of law. Me, I would be the one trying the case, you, you would be the plaintiff, the one suing Perkins, and Jason, he would be considered the second chair. He would know everything about the case, and if for some reason I can’t make it, or if I’m unsure of any aspect of the case, he can fill in.
With him as second from the beginning of the trial, the defendant’s team won’t have to call for a mistrial, or a continuance because he’s filling in for me.
He would be part of the team from the get-go. ”
“Ah, okay, explained like that, I understand.”
Raymond held out his hand to her, and sighed in relief when she took it and then took the seat beside him, he didn’t talk until Ilsa got them all coffee. He was ready for one now.
“I came here to Jason to get his professional opinion. He’s a federal prosecutor, where I’m just a lawyer.”
“Well, I’m a lawyer too, but I have more clout than Raymond.”
“Does this mean that if you’re the second chair, Perkins and his lawyers might be shaking in their boots?”
“Yes, it could.” Jason sipped his coffee and nodded.
“Now, here lies the problem. Yes, these files were obtained illegally, and as of right now, we can’t use them against him.
That’s problem number one. But like Morris explained to me, you copied them because you thought if something happened and we needed to get a warrant, and these came up missing, we would have proof.
That’s a great idea, and if it comes to that, then we’ll go that route.
However, there’s nothing to say that we can’t read this, go over them with a fine-tooth comb, to establish a pattern of neglect, medical malpractice, and even murder. ”
“You said there was one problem, which I understand, and I’m assuming there are more problems?”
“Yes, but first if Raymond hasn’t told you this already, I’m going to tell you now. This case, and there is a case here, won’t be done overnight. It might even take a few years before it’s completed. If these files had been obtained legally, we would be filing now, but we have to wait.”
“I understand.”
“Problem number two, from this point on, you are not to read anything on this flash drive. Have you read these files yet?”
“No, I only saw the words, patient died from complications of surgery, then I put the CD in my laptop, and downloaded the entire CD to that drive. There were fifteen of the CDs. What I read was only on the first one, and it was on page one. I have no clue how many pages each CD had or if each one is a separate case or multiple ones on one recording.”
“Okay, thank you for being honest about that. The reason I don’t want you to know what is on these is so that the jury will be able to see your professional as well as personal facial expressions to what we will reveal to the jury, when you’re testifying.”
“You’re going to want me to testify?”
“Yes. The next problem is that with you not being able to see or read these files, that means we can’t use your professional opinions as to what we’re reading.
We’re going to have to reach out to someone not associated with this case to help us with the medical jargon we will be reading.
Nurse Betty won’t be able to help either, because I’m, well, I’ll recommend Raymond does it, but there will be assault charges brought up against Ervin on Betty’s behalf. ”
“I understand. I think I know why you can’t use us, and correct me if I’m wrong, but is it because I could be accused of being biased against Perkins and Ervin. Their lawyers could say I had a professional vendetta against them, and I’m making up lies about what is in the files.”
“Yes.”
“Understood, and with me taking myself out of the equation, they can’t get out of the charges, or try to.”
“Correct.”
“Do you want me to give you names of people that I might know that could help you with those files?”
“No, again, their lawyers could say you coerced them to give their testimony. We, Raymond, Ilsa, and I will find a professional doctor not associated with you, Perkins, Ervin, the clinic, or even the hospital the clinic is associated with. I know some professionals I’ve used on some of my federal cases in the past. They would have no knowledge of this case before being called to the stand.
” He looked at Raymond. “You’re going to want Ilsa as your third chair. ”
“I can do that.”
“Ah, someone with no skin in the game.” Amelia answered Jason when he said who he wanted to bring in.
“Correct.”
“Okay, I probably know the answer to this, but what do you want me to do in the meantime?”
“What do you think?” Raymond asked gently.
“Set up my practice here, go out and get clients, treat them, and keep my head down, do my job, and trust that the three of you will do what you can to bring these assholes down. Now, one more question, and I’ll drop it for now.”
“What’s that?” all three lawyers asked as one.
“What if Shay comes to me for a check-up for an assessment if he’s called into Perkins office.”
“Then you treat him. Technically, he’s still your patient. You never signed him off to anyone else after you treated him the first time, did you?”
“No, I signed off on his case, because in my professional opinion, he was healed. But I never signed off on him as a patient.”
“Perfect, do that then. If by some chance Shay does get called in to see Perkins, or Ervin for that matter, then we can only hope that he will delay the alleged surgery until Shay can get a second opinion. I can’t stress enough that you document everything if that happens.
Your medical notes, any x-rays, any referrals to physical therapy, anything.
Even if you give him a clean bill of health, I want detailed notes as to why you feel that you gave it to him. ”
“Okay.” Everyone watched as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth, and fingers.
“What’s wrong, Amelia?” Ilsa asked quietly.
“I agree with everything you said. If I’m too close to this case, and it goes south at trial, I’ll never forgive myself. However, what if Perkins is so pushy with Shay, but he refuses to have the unnecessary surgery, and Perkins takes out that frustration on an unsuspecting person?”
“That’s a chance we’re going to have to take,” Raymond said quietly as he reached over and took her hand in his, giving it a gentle squeeze.
“I know that sounds harsh and unfeeling, but we can’t control what he’s going to do.
If that happens, then we can document, and god forbid something awful happens, we can go after him for that.
I know you don’t want to hear this, but don’t borrow trouble. ”
“I know, it’s going to be hard.”
“I know.” He squeezed her hand again, and the four of them sat around drinking coffee, ignoring the laptop with evidence they couldn’t use glaring at them.