2. Skylar
Skylar
" H ey, Skylar. This packet came today. It looks like it's an intent to file a medical malpractice suit against Dr. Yerba."
I leaned back in my office chair and accepted the huge packet Leslie, my assistant, handed me.
Great. Just what I needed , I thought.
Dr. Aries Yerba was a man whose arrogance was just as tall as his six-foot-five-inch height, and as wide as his football-shaped frame. I swear if I wasn't well informed of his talents and skills as an orthopedic surgeon, he could definitely be mistaken for a professional football player.
I knew better though. Dr. Yerba may have a strict gym routine to keep his body looking the way it did, but he would never endanger his hands with professional sports.
He lived for operating. He also rarely made mistakes, so I was curious to know what alleged malpractice an ambulance chaser attorney was trying to pin on him.
As much of an arrogant pain in the ass Aries was, I would defend him with every skill I had to get the claims thrown out or settled for as little as possible with a gag order in place surrounding details.
"Thanks, Leslie. Did you scan the documents in the system?"
"Of course. I just didn't want an email to get lost in your already flooded inbox."
"I appreciate you!"
Leslie left my office, and I took a few minutes to read through the cover letter.
I would look through the records digitally so I could highlight and tab my notes.
I wanted to go through every piece of material on the patient, the procedure, and possible negligence before scheduling a meeting with Aries.
I took three minutes to breathe and meditate because I was going to have to use all the calming energy I could muster to deal with that man.
.. on top of my already heavy case load.
Ahh, the life of an attorney.
After five hours of studying the Aries Yerba file, and calling down to records to have the entire medical record file saved to my work dashboard, I was ready to call it a night.
Even though that simply meant me going home to curl up on my couch with a glass of wine and my iPad to study the file some more. At least my wine would keep me company.
My plan was to work and drink through a quiet evening. With that in mind, I packed up my bag and looked forward to heading to my quaint little cabin style single family home. It fit so well with the Colorado atmosphere. Loved my home, my town, and the environment I've surrounded myself in.
When I arrived home, I saw my bestie's car sitting in my driveway, and thoughts of a quiet night working were quickly dashed.
I knew Mackenzie was already in my kitchen, waiting on me for whatever reason.
When I entered the kitchen through the side door that led out into the garage, Mackenzie was sitting at my island with a glass of wine in her hand, and another one, full to the brim, waiting for me.
"Well, at least there will still be wine," I muttered, fully accepting the fact that I was probably done working for the night.
"Hey, bestie! I'm going to ignore that sour look on your face and pretend that you aren't annoyed by the sight of me because you love me, and you would never be annoyed by your bestie."
Rolling my eyes, I let out a huff and walked over to pick up the waiting wine glass.
"Hi, Mackenzie. What world-ending event happened to lead you to use your emergency key?"
"Don't judge me. I have bad nerves."
More like an anxiety disorder that she refused to get diagnosed, but she wasn't ready to acknowledge that yet, so I supported her without trying to dictate how she should live her life.
"Okay, your nerves are bad. What happened?"
"So, there's this guy, right!"
I sighed because there was always a guy, but I didn't have time for a therapy session. I would really prefer to focus on work. Hoping that playing along would help get the story out faster, I asked. "He cute?"
That would be the first thing she'd want to focus on.
"He looks so damn good! But we already know any guy who gets my attention is going to look good. That's not what have my nerves bad. That would be the fact that he and his wife both look good and have approached me for a threesome."
I damn near spit out my wine. "Kenzie, please tell me you didn't offer yourself up to a married couple."
She twirled a long curl around her finger and gave me a guilty look. "Not yet, but we set it up." She admitted, biting her lip.
"I'm gonna ask you one question, but then we're gonna have to table this discussion. I have a meeting with one of my doctors pertaining to a lawsuit, and I need to be prepared."
"Yeah, yeah! There's always a big case. What's your question?"
"Do you really think having a threesome, with a married couple, is in your best interest?"
I couldn't escape being a counselor to everyone.
I was a counselor as an attorney at work and a counselor to my friends in a therapist capacity, with a side of legal advice, making sure they didn't do anything stupid.
The only difference in the two hats was that my friends received my pro bono services.
"I don't know! That's why I was here, waiting for you to help calm my nerves and give me some good advice."
"Kenzie, that's a decision you have to make. I cannot do that for you. All I can say is that there's nothing wrong with taking time to think about it. Don't jump into anything."
"I knew you would be able to help," Mackenzie told me, coming around the island and giving me a kiss on the cheek. "I love you, bestie!"
"Always," I told her, turning to kiss her on her cheek in return. I didn't think I helped her, but if she thought so, then hell... I'd take it.
"I'll leave you to it," Mackenzie said. Before she set to leave, she paused and continued, "But Sky, don't work too hard, bestie.
" Her tone was the reason why I loved her so much.
She said it with so much care and concern for my mental health.
She truly meant her words. I was thankful for her love and compassion.
I wished she had the ability to extend the same to herself.
"I'll try," I told her sincerely. With one last hug, Mackenzie bounced out of my house like she didn't just ask me for advice about a threesome with a married couple.
I swear she was a thirty-three-year-old adult, with anxiety and ADHD, and sometimes acted like a teenager.
I tried to protect her, but damn, she drove me to drink sometimes.
Speaking of drinking , I thought, looking down at my glass. I downed the contents and looked down studying the empty glass as if I wasn't the one who devoured it.
Yup I needed more, I said to myself while filling the glass back to the top.
As I walked away from the kitchen, I turned back and swiped the entire bottle to take it with me while I worked. By the time I came up for air from the thousand pages of medical records, the bottle was damn near gone. However, I was positive I would be properly prepared for my meeting with Aries.
My focus for the rest of the night would now be dedicated to a long hot bath and hopefully a few good hours of sleep.
Before ridding myself of my clothes, I went to my den to check on Coffee Bean.
CB was my Eastern Box turtle that I had since I was twelve years old.
She was my little bestie. I didn't go outside much because most of my time was always spent on my studies.
My dad, my other bestie, bought Coffee Bean as a gift because I had been asking for a pet.
He knew I wouldn't go out to walk a dog, and he was allergic to cats, so somehow, he landed on a turtle.
I've had her for twenty-three years now, and she had plenty more years left in her.
"Hey, Bean! How was your day?" I asked, looking into her elaborate tank I had installed.
She poked her head out of her shell and peeked at me, before going back to minding her business.
I guess she was mad that I'd hadn't been in to check on her since I'd been home.
"Don't be like that. I have some berries for you. "
She poked her head out again and I swore the look she gave me was, bitch you betta had brought me some food . I picked her up, petted her shell for a few minutes, and let her eat some berries out of my hand.
After I felt like her attitude was gone, I put Coffee Bean back, washed my hands, and went on about the rest of my evening. I was exhausted, but I knew I would be up at six in the morning to do my Peloton workout. My ass didn’t look this good without a lot of hard work.
I would need my morning ritual, and a lot of prayer to make it through the foreseeable future.
As such, I sent up a prayer, asking God to make my meeting with Aries Yerba tomorrow run smoothly, and prayed even further that I can swiftly remedy this medical malpractice suit against him.
Even though he was a cocky pain in my ass, like most doctors, I knew that he was a top-tier doctor.
Thinking back on everything I knew about Aries, it was simply in his DNA to be a difficult creature.
What I knew about him from high school, and the rumors floating around the hospital, I knew being his attorney was going to drive me to consume way more alcohol than I did this evening.