Chapter 21 #3
Okay. She managed a smile and hoped she didn’t look afraid as she lowered into the plastic seat. It emitted a squeak that sounded suspiciously like something else, and she cynically wondered if they gave all their victims such a chair as a deliberate means to throw them off their game.
She lifted her chin. She wouldn’t let either an unfortunately squeaky chair or these stone-faced people intimidate her. “Hello.”
“Dr. Rivas,” Dr. Rialto began, “as you know you are here because of some questions that were raised about the care of Lily Hendrickson, particularly on the day of her last admittance.”
Lily’s last admittance. Her final admittance. She swallowed. Nodded.
What followed was a grilling asking her to recall every minute detail, and for Gen to wish she had memorized her notes. So much of what happened had been sheer instinct, was simply her moving in the rhythms of what she had always done. She couldn’t recall every single detail.
So when Mr. Atkinson, one of the board members, who seemed to be the committee chairman, asked about a particular protocol, she had to shake her head no. “I’m sorry, but I don’t recall.”
“You don’t recall, or you didn’t do it?”
“I’m sure I would have done it, because it’s something that I’ve done in the past, and my training has meant I’ve done it many times. But that precise moment has escaped my memory, so I cannot be too sure right now.”
Dr. Rialto shook his head slightly, and she realized it probably was not the best way to answer that.
“I can assure you that nobody cares more about the outcome of Lily Hendrickson’s health than I do.” Her heart panged. “Than I did.”
“Nobody is denying that, Dr. Rivas,” Mr. Atkinson continued. “But it is not just this incident that has us concerned. There have been allegations made against you that are alarming. That you’re not a team player. That you refuse to take advice.”
She shook her head. “Sir, that is not true.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“No. Just that there are different sides to every story, and I have always, always, tried my best to involve people. I’m not a lone ranger. Dr. Singh and my colleagues will tell you that.”
“I’m afraid it’s one of your colleagues that has come forth with this allegation.”
One guess who. “I won’t deny that there have been some personality conflicts at times, but never at the expense of patient care.”
“Well, that is a matter that we will need to consider. And I’m afraid due to the serious nature of these allegations that we’re left with little option than to put you on suspension for two weeks or until such a time as you are deemed capable of making decisions that are not emotion-based, but clinically-assessed. ”
Her heart clenched. Suspension? “But I did nothing wrong.”
The committee chairman glanced at Dr. Rialto, who offered Gen a fleeting look of sympathy, then continued as if not hearing her. “This does, of course, mean that you will no longer be able to represent the hospital at the upcoming mentoring program downtown.”
“But I need to. It’s one of the conditions of my scholarship. And I’ve put a lot of work into that.”
“Someone else can take your place.”
Indignation rose. “But I’m the one who has prepped for that. I really don’t think it’s fair or right for someone else to show up and get the credit.”
Mr. Atkinson leaned forward. “And we really don’t think it’s right for the hospital’s reputation to come under fire because someone thought she knew better than everyone else and was prepared to throw away hospital procedures for the sake of her own ego.”
Her mouth fell open. “I didn’t do that. It’s not—”
“Please Dr. Rivas. Not another word. You are not making a case for yourself right now as someone who is happy to take instruction.”
What could she do? What could she say? It felt like a witch hunt, with every one of her denials like another log against the burning stake.
“I’m sorry if my actions have brought the hospital’s reputation into question,” she said stiffly, “but I truly thought that everything I was doing was by the book.”
“That remains to be seen.” The committee chairman eyed her sternly.
Why did he hate her so much? Was he the one rumored to have a connection to Dr. Visek?
Dr. Rialto cleared his throat. “I’m sorry to inform you that due to the seriousness of this matter the committee’s decision to suspend you means that you will be unpaid while on leave.”
“What?” How could she afford the rent? What would this mean for her career?
More words were thrown at her but she barely heard them.
She rose unsteadily, unable to offer the usual nothing words about thanking them for their time. She wasn’t thankful. She wished she’d never come.
How could she be thankful when she was facing the probable loss of her career?
How could she be thankful when everything in her world seemed to have hit the fan and was spinning out of control?
There was nothing good. Nothing.
She could barely think. Barely function.
The world was going too fast and she couldn’t keep up.
Oh, she longed for her bed and to sleep for a thousand years.