5.2
Her father nodded. “They’ll have to sell their house, too.”
“Oh, no. ”
“Oh yes. And from what I understand, it was all for some bullshit reason. Some tiny thing they left off their insurance application, or something like that. William’s going to sell his boat and his business, too. To help them with all the bills.”
Julia lost all powers of speech. At the look on her face, her father said, “Don’t worry. He’s not coming to work here again.”
Ignoring his obtuse remark, Julia said, “Can’t they declare bankruptcy?”
“I’m not sure what the story is there, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they’re just too proud to do it. You know they believe in paying what they owe, and maybe they don’t want the stain on their credit, either. William opened up a fund for them at the bank. I’ve given as much as I can, but they’re never going to collect enough to cover everything they owe.”
With that, her father walked away, leaving Julia to process the news on her own.
The next morning, Julia gently nudged Paige through the open entrance of the plant, unsure who would meet them there or what reception they would receive.
Kelly stood at the counter, darting back and forth while helping customers and attempting to restock the case. Julia hung back with Paige for a minute, until Kelly finally noticed them standing there.
Her lip curled at the sight of them. But she said, “I’ll be with you in a minute.”
After a while, Kelly finally emerged from behind the counter and said, “Follow me.”
Julia and Paige followed her back onto the pier and around to the other entrance. Julia knew it would have been faster to go through the back. She assumed Kelly was hiding her from William.
Kelly brought them into the office, and said curtly, “I don’t really have time to show you around. The cleaning supplies are in this closet. You can put her to work cleaning the office, for starters. It needs it, badly. Don’t let her out of your sight. ”
With that, Kelly unceremoniously left them there to return to the front counter. Julia watched her go, then turned to Paige.
“Well, come on.”
They opened the closet door and rummaged through all the cleaning supplies. With a look of resignation, Paige took rags and cleaning products and began dusting the furniture. Julia had to lift piles and piles of paperwork off of every horizontal surface in order to give Paige access to the furniture.
Clearly, they needed a lot of help in there.
She waited an hour for Kelly to return, and when she didn’t, she told Paige, “Come with me.”
She led Paige back onto the pier, into the other entrance again. She waited for Kelly to finish with a customer, then approached her and said, “I think we’re about done with cleaning the office now, and I was wondering if you’d like some help filing paperwork. I’m a paralegal, so I’m pretty much a pro with paperwork.”
Kelly’s hard expression softened a bit. “I don’t know how my parents did it all by themselves. Will and I haven’t figured out the division of labor yet.”
Julia sensed an opening. “I’d be happy to come in here for a few days and help out with anything you guys need.”
But Kelly shook her head. “We can’t pay you anything.”
“No charge.”
Kelly peered suspiciously at her. “Let me think about it. But I’ll take you up on your offer for today, at least.”
“You’ll have to take a little time to show me what everything is and the basics of your system.”
Kelly nodded. “Let me get Will up here.”
Julia felt her stomach flop. She took Paige, and went back to the office again via the pier.
A few minutes later, Kelly appeared in the office and oriented Julia to the filing system at breakneck speed.
“Invoices. Accounts payable. Accounts receivable. Inventory.”
“So this is an unpaid invoice?” asked Julia.
“Yes. Anytime you see one that hasn’t been stamped like this one has, then put it in this tray here. It means it still needs to get paid. ”
After a while, Kelly left them by themselves in the office. Julia found some file folders and turned to Paige.
“You can start labeling these.”
She showed Paige how to use the label maker, which Paige actually found rather fun.
“This is better than cleaning,” Paige remarked.
Working together, Julia and Paige sorted through the mountains of paperwork and filed it all away within the next couple of hours. Then it was lunch time. Julia and Paige gathered up their belongings, and as they left the office, they almost bumped into William on his way in.
He flinched a bit at the sight of them. Julia put her hand on Paige’s back, and nudged her toward the pier.
After lunch, they returned to the plant, and Kelly put Paige to work cleaning out live crab tanks, crab cookers, and fillet tables.
“Oh my God, I think I’m gonna hurl,” Paige said as she pulled chunks of fish flesh, skin, and innards from the central floor drain.
Kelly leaned into Julia with a hint of a smile and whispered, “This is the kind of stuff Dad used to make us do when we got in trouble.”
Back here, Julia caught sight of William more often as he pitched in at the filleting table and supervised the packaging. Though she was in plain sight, he never looked at her. He was too busy anyway, she reflected, and she would have left him alone even if she had no other incentive to do so.
At two o’clock, the plant began wrapping up operations. Julia took Paige to the restroom to wash up, and together they returned to the office to retrieve their belongings.
They found William and Kelly there, engaged in some earnest conversation which stopped abruptly when Julia and Paige entered. Julia silently gathered up her jacket, hat, and scarf, and waited for Paige to do the same.
“You did good work today,” Kelly said finally to Paige.
Julia nudged Paige, who mumbled, “Thanks.”
“Thank you, too,” Kelly said, lifting her eyes to Julia.
“You’re welcome,” Julia replied. Taking a deep breath, she added, “I’d be happy to help out here in any way you need for a few days. I know what you and your family are going through right now. I can help you keep on top of your paperwork and your bills.”
William turned a solemn gaze on Julia. “I don’t think that will be necessary.”
In spite of herself, Julia felt her heart sinking. Before he could see the evidence on her face, Julia nudged Paige through the office door.
One final burst of inspiration struck her.
“My dad told me about your dad’s health insurance. That your parents are going to have to sell this business, and their house.”
William nodded.
“Sometimes these rescissions can be fought in court,” Julia continued. “If the insurance company is found to be in the wrong, they can be made to reimburse your parents.”
“We’re not litigious people, Julia,” replied Kelly. “We’re not trying to get anything that’s not ours.”
“No, but if you can save what’s already yours, and keep your brother from having to sell his business, too…”
Julia looked pointedly at William. He said, “He’s been getting treatment for four months. None of his claims were denied, but the providers weren’t getting paid, either. Then, last week, out of the blue, my parents got a letter in the mail from the insurance company, saying boom, we’re rescinding your policy. In effect, cancelling it back to the time you first got it. Here’s a check, refunding you for all your premiums paid so far, minus the claims we paid for you, and by the way, you still owe a million bucks for your medical care.”
Julia shook her head in dismay. “Why did they say they were rescinding it?”
“They said Dad failed to disclose on his application that he had a lung condition, high blood pressure, and a mental disorder.”
“But none of that is true?”
“No, but the insurance company says it was in his medical record.”
“They should consult an attorney.”
Kelly scoffed. “They’re already drowning in bills. How are they supposed to pay a lawyer?”
“The initial consultation is free. And if they have a case, they pay the attorney nothing until they win. ”
“And if they don’t win?” William inquired.
“The attorney assumes the risk of the litigation. You won’t pay anything if you don’t win.”
She waited for a response, but William only looked at her in that same piercing way. She turned, and ushered Paige out of the building.
Julia spent the next few days attending counseling sessions with Paige, taking her to the doctor and the psychiatrist, and tending to other business. But the next week, as soon as Julia dropped Paige off at school, she drove to the law library to dig through the books.
That afternoon, she dialed a familiar old number she hadn’t dialed in years.
“Hello?”
Julia took a deep breath. “Is this Ann Quinn?”
“Yes.”
“Mrs. Quinn, this is Julia Beale. Julia Dunphy, formerly.” Quickly, she added, “Before you hang up on me, I may have a way for you to save your house and your business.”
There was a long pause on the other end of the line. “Okay.”
“I know you don’t want to see me or even talk to me, but I think what I have can help you. Can I meet you somewhere, just for a few minutes? Either today, or sometime in the next day or two?”
After another long pause, Ann said, “Can you come over now to the house?”
“Yes.”
“Do it, then.”
Julia hung up and drove straight to the Quinns’ house. Ann scowled from the front door, but opened it wide to admit Julia.
“Come with me in here,” said Ann, gesturing toward the in-law unit. “Jim’s sleeping upstairs, and I don’t want to disturb him.”
Julia followed her silently, took a seat on the couch next to Ann, and spread her paperwork on the coffee table. Ann scowled some more at her, and said, “Well?”
Julia considered inquiring after Jim, but judged it best, for now, to get down to the point. “I spoke with William last week, at the plant. He told me that the health insurance company is saying that Jim lied on his insurance application. He also said that’s not true.”
“Of course it’s not true,” snapped Ann.
“Here’s the point, Mrs. Quinn.” Julia held out a photocopy of a page from the code book. “This is a new law that went into effect on January 1, 2010. A health insurance company cannot rescind your policy unless it can prove that you intentionally lied on your application. Have they provided any kind of evidence that Jim intentionally lied on his application?”
Ann frowned thoughtfully a moment. “They said it was in his medical record.”
“Mrs. Quinn, I don’t mean to pry, but can I ask you exactly what conditions they claim that he lied about? I only ask because I’m hoping I can help you guys in some way.”
Ann looked suspiciously at Julia. “Why do you want to help us?”
Julia shifted uncomfortably in her seat. “I hate to see you and Jim lose your business and your home like this. You’ve been friends of my family for years and years. And I know William is going to sell his business, too. If there’s anything I can do to stop all this from happening, I have to try.”
Ann shook her head. “We don’t need any help from you, Julia.”
“Then don’t take my help. But please, consult an attorney about your case, if you haven’t already. You may or may not know, I’m a paralegal now. And no, I don’t specialize in these kinds of cases, so I’m not trying to reap any benefit from this for myself or my employer. But the initial consultation is free, and the attorney can tell you if he thinks you have a case or not.” Julia held out another piece of paper. “This is the name and number of an attorney who specializes in these kinds of cases. My cousin Erin, who’s an attorney, gave me his name.”
Ann sneered. “You’re not trying to get any personal benefit from this, eh?”
“No. How would I?”
Ann leaned toward her. “He has a good and loyal heart, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you anywhere near it again.”
Julia felt her pulse quickening and her face burning. But she forced her voice to remain steady. “William has no idea I’m here talking to you, and he never will unless you tell him.”
“Good. Because he’ll never owe you a damn thing.”
“If I had wanted to put him under some obligation to me, don’t you think I could have done it by now?”
The sneer on Ann’s face vanished. Slowly, she leaned back in her seat again.
Julia said, “If you think I don’t know I made the worst mistake of my life, you’re wrong. I’ll pay for it every single day for the rest of my life, and rightly so. I love William with every fiber of my being, but I know I’ve lost him. I don’t want him to lose his business. I don’t want you and Jim to lose your business or your home. It’s as simple as that.”
Julia and Ann looked at each other for several more moments. Then Julia ventured, “If you have Jim’s medical records, and you’re willing to share them with me, I may be able to tell whether you have a case. I’ll write the case up for you and submit it to this attorney myself to get his attention. It would save him some work and get the ball rolling on your case even faster.”
Ann considered a while longer, then got up and went upstairs. She returned carrying a file folder.
“When we got the letter from the insurance company rescinding our policy, we asked Jim’s doctor to fax over his records to us so we could see for ourselves,” explained Ann. She opened the folder, and pointed to one page. “This here, where it says ‘SOB’, does not mean Jim is a son of a bitch, though that would be right on the mark. But the doctor says it means ‘shortness of breath.’ That’s what the insurance company calls lung disease.”
Julia examined the page more closely. “All it says here is that he had shortness of breath due to nasal allergies.”
“Yep, but the insurance company says ‘shortness of breath’ indicates a lung disease.” She turned to another page. “Here’s where it says Jim had elevated blood pressure during a couple of visits, five years ago. Jim told the doctor he was feeling nervous, because he was under a lot of financial stress. See, here the doctor wrote ‘anxiety.’ All of that is what the insurance company calls high blood pressure and a mental disorder. But the next time Jim came into the office, our financial troubles were over, his blood pressure was back to normal, and he wasn’t having anxiety anymore.”
“Did he ever get any medication or treatment for the elevated blood pressure or the anxiety?”
“No, nothing. It all resolved itself by the next visit.”
Julia said, “Would you mind showing me the letter from your insurance company? The one rescinding your policy?”
Ann went to retrieve that from her files. When she returned, Julia looked it over.
“I’ve never heard of this company before,” she said.
“They offer cheaper policies for self-employed people.”
“They’re out of state. They might be unfamiliar with the law in California regarding rescissions. Listen, I definitely don’t want to get your hopes up. But the more I’m looking at this, the more I’m thinking you might have a case. You might even be able to settle with the insurance company fairly quickly.”
“And you said you could write it up for us? Submit it to that attorney?”
“Yes, I can. Would you feel comfortable if I took these documents with me right now and made some photocopies to work with? I’ll bring the originals right back to you as soon as I’m done.”
Ann nodded. Julia gathered up the file folder and the letter from the insurance company. Ann accompanied her silently to the front door. On the front step, Julia faced her and said, “I’ll be right back in just a minute.”
She drove to the grocery store and made copies of everything. Back on the front step of the Quinns’ house, Julia handed the originals to Ann. “I’m going to call Jim’s doctor. You’ll need to give him permission to speak to me about Jim’s medical record.”
“How long do you think this will take?”
“It will only take me a couple of days to write up the case for the attorney. If he’s willing to take the case, then he can answer your questions about how long the litigation process will take. I imagine it all depends on whether there’s a settlement, or whether it goes to trial.”
“But are we talking weeks? Months? ”