Chapter 22
“All rise!” the bailiff called out, and everyone stood as the judge entered, then they were told to sit down.
As she sat, Amelia looked at the empty table before her, and was suddenly hit with a wave of anguish as the judge asked the jury if they had reached a verdict.
It had been three days since they had been released to go deliberate.
A woman stood, and looked directly at the judge.
“We have, your Honor.” She picked up a folded piece of paper, handed it to the bailiff, and he took it to the judge.
The judge unfolded the paper, read it, made some notes on his own paper, and handed it back to the bailiff.
Amelia had always thought that process had been made for TV drama, but when it was her own drama, she just wanted to scream at them to read it out.
“Counselor, have your clients stand,” the judge said sternly, and watched as Dr. Perkins, Dr. Ervin, and their lawyers stood. The bailiff had returned the paper to the jury forewoman.
“Proceed,” the judge nodded to her.
She opened the paper, stood tall, looked at the paper, and in a clear voice, started speaking.
“We the jury find Dr. Reuben Perkins in the case of defamation of character, guilty of all charges.” When the other side erupted, the judge had to bang his gavel several times to get order in the court, the bailiff even stepped forward.
“Continue,” he said to the forewoman.
“We the people find Dr. Alexander Ervin, in the case of defamation of character, guilty of all charges.”
Again, the other side erupted, and several uniformed police officers had to step up behind them to try to control them. The judge also banged his gavel several times to get their attention.
“Order in the court!” he yelled. It took almost a minute to get them under control, and then they finally looked at him.
“I’m going to give my sentencing now. With the guilty verdict, I find that Dr. Reuben Perkins will pay Dr. Amelia Johnson the sum of thirty million dollars.
” He didn’t stop, as he continued, “In the case of Dr. Alexander Ervin, I find that you will pay Dr. Amelia Johnson the sum of twenty million dollars.” He lifted the gavel to bang it down to end the trial in its entirety, but someone spoke from the back.
“Your Honor!” the man said, and started toward the front. He didn’t stop until he was before the bench, and he handed the judge several blue tri-folded papers. With a scowl, the judge took them, read them, and Amelia would swear under oath that his eyebrows went to the back of his head.
The judge studied the man before him, who only nodded and produced a badge. The judge nodded again, and handed them back to him.
“Go ahead,” he said, and watched as the man walked over to the table where Perkins and Ervin sat, and called their names. When they nodded, or verbally said they were who he asked for, he handed them the papers.
“You’ve been served,” he said, then went over to stand on the other side of Amelia’s table, close to the jury.
Everyone held their breath as the doctors opened the papers, read them, then looked at Amelia.
“You fucking bitch,” Dr. Perkins screamed at her, and tried to lunge for her, but Amelia found herself surrounded by bodies that she would later learned were there to protect her.
“You’ll regret this!” Dr. Ervin called out as he shook the papers at her. “You’re fucking done! I will destroy you!” Both of them said then, and everyone jumped as the judge banged the gavel down.
“Bailiff! Restrain them!” He didn’t speak again until the handcuffs were on them, then the lawyers picked up the papers and read them, before looking at the judge.
“On what charges.”
“Contempt of court, making threats, thirty days, and a ten thousand dollar fine! Each!” He banged the gavel, jumped to his feet, and disappeared through the door behind the bench.
Amelia sat there in shock, and no one on her side of the court said a word as Perkins and Ervin were led away in cuffs, swearing and threatening the entire way.
When counsel disappeared with them, that left her and her own team, along with Shay, who had come back for the verdict, and several other men in suits.
“What the hell just happened?” Amelia demanded as she looked around wildly.
“I don’t know,” Raymond said, and his expression said he was just as confused.
“Willis?” He then turned to Amelia to make introductions.
“This is Detective Brent Willis, he’s with the white crimes unit for Colorado Springs police department.
” He looked at Willis with a frown and a shake of his head.
“What papers did you serve them?” He looked at Amelia. “Someone is going after them.”
“The lawyers for the clinic they worked at are suing them for their billing practices, then the patients that died, their families are suing them for wrongful death.” He looked at them, then grinned.
“Nine counts, each. Oh, and because of the results of this lawsuit, their bank accounts were frozen. Once this court case is finalized and the ruling registered, Dr. Johnson’s money will come out of their accounts, and what they are left with will be for the next case. ”
“Wait,” Amelia said. “Why wrongful death? Why not murder?”
“Because,” a man said as he and several others walked up to them.
“Mr. Tallman?”
“Yes, Dr. Johnson. Perkins and Ervin have been under investigation for several months. We didn’t want to serve them with the papers until after the outcome of this case. The hospital lawyers will be getting with you and your counsel soon, but you’re going to be one of our key witnesses.”
“How?”
“Because in the wrongful death cases, we’re going to rely on you, and others in your field, to read the files of the patients that either died on the table, or lost a limb due to their negligence.”
“How soon before we go to court?”
“Not for at least six months to a year. As you heard and saw, they were sent to jail for thirty days, and I’m in the process of working with the medical licensing board to have their licenses suspended until the outcome of the new trial.
I’ve already revoked their privileges from both the clinic and hospital.
” He waited until the shock wore off, then sighed heavily as he pinched the bridge of his nose, before he looked at her sheepishly.
“You wouldn’t happen to want to come back and work at the clinic would you?”
“Absolutely not,” Amelia was quick and firm in her answer.
“I thought you would say that. How would you feel if I refer patients to you at your new office?”
“Only on the condition that they know, without a shadow of a doubt that Perkins, Ervin, and several nurses lied about me. That they defamed me, and that I didn’t do anything they accused me of.”
“The hospital waited for the results of this trial, and once the ruling is filed with the courts, everything will be a matter of public record. We will then be drafting a letter with the results and mailing it to every client you ever had at the clinic.”
“Thank you, and that’s nice of you, leaving the decision to come back to me in their hands.”
“That was from the advice of our lawyers. No pressure from us, you, or forcing the patients to see you. I do have to tell you one more thing though.”
“What’s that?”
“As I mentioned earlier, you will be a key witness for our case, how can I get ahold of you?”
“Talk to my lawyer,” she said firmly as she pointed to Raymond, Ilsa, and Jason.
They all handed Tallman a business card, then he turned on his heel and walked away from them.
No one said a word until the doors closed behind them, and Amelia ended up dropping into a chair, put her head between her knees, and mumbled.
“Give me a minute.” No one said a word, and Raymond laid a hand on her shoulder, giving her silent support until she could gather herself.
When she felt she could stand without passing out, she raised her head, and looked at everyone.
“Can we get the hell out of here now and go home?”
“Yes,” everyone said, and three hours later, several vehicles caravaned back toward Fool’s Gold, with some of them trailing off at one point to head toward Colorado Springs. Amelia was in the front seat of Raymond’s truck, looking out the window, thinking about all that had happened that day.
“Are you okay?” Raymond asked quietly as he reached over and entwined their fingers, leaving their hands on her thigh.
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking.”
“About?”
She finally turned to look at him, and though her expression was somber, she smirked. “They’re fucked, aren’t they?”
“Yes.” He didn’t bother to ask who she was talking about.
“Not only from your trial, but it might be worse if they are found guilty on all the other cases. With their accounts being frozen, you’re guaranteed to get your money.
I have no clue how much is in their accounts, but I wouldn’t put it past them to have some off-shore accounts.
That will be for someone else to figure out.
My job from now on is to guide you when you have to testify against them. ”
“Okay.” She was silent for a long time, then sighed heavily. “I know it’s too early, and I’m not going to touch that money for at least six months, but there are some things I would like to do with it.”
“Is it illegal?” he asked, then laughed when he saw her expression. “Sorry.”
“No, it’s not illegal. There are some pieces of equipment I want to purchase for both my office and Caleb’s.
Equipment we can both benefit from. I was about to talk to Betty Laurel extensively, and she’s about six weeks away from completing her certifications to become a licensed mid-wife.
I would like to set up a clinic in my building for that.
I would probably have to talk to Erin about it, because it is her building. ”
“I’m sure if you have a business plan, and can answer all her questions, she will allow it.” He looked at her with a smile. “Do you think it might be up and running before she’s due to have her own child?”
“Possibly, if I only sit on some of the money for three months instead of six. But think about this, Erin’s pregnant now, your own daughter mentioned something about mid-wives, or OB/GYN services.
You have to admit, there are a lot of women living on the ranches that could use the services, and they wouldn’t have to travel far. ”
“I like it, and no matter what you decide, I’ll support you.”
“Thank you.” She smiled as he raised their entwined hands to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. They drove the rest of the way in silence, and after they walked into the cabin they shared together, she turned to him with a wide grin.
“What?”
“Now that this case is over, and I don’t have to wonder how many lies they were telling about me behind my back, I have a feeling that my business is going to explode. I know I’m being optimistic, but I wanted to talk to you before that happened.”
He had been making a fresh pot of coffee as she spoke, and she had been emptying their suitcases into the washer.
“What did you want to talk about?”
She walked over to him, stood before him, and took both his hands in hers. “A few weeks back, you said that I felt like your forever. You feel the same way to me, Raymond. You are my forever. Will you marry me?”
“Yes!” He laughed as he gathered her in a hug and twirled her around.
He kissed her soundly, then laughed harder as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box.
“I bought this when we were in Denver. I was going to wait until the verdict, because I didn’t care if you got money or not.
That’s not the issue. You are my forever, Amelia Johnson, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together. ”
They stood there in each other’s arms for a long time before they came up for air.