“Who did you ask that of?”
“The attending, Dr. Larson.”
“Okay. And did you view the patient at that time?”
“I did. Not up close—but from the doorway.”
“And what did you observe?”
“She had a burn on one side of her face—which I assumed was from the airbag, and Dr. Larson was removing the cervical collar that the EMTs had placed for transport. He asked me to call in radiology orders for a neck and head scan and hang a bag of fluids. It was a busy night, between flu season and the driver who was brought in with the woman, everyone was tied up. Normally a nurse would call in orders and hang fluids, but I’m a resident and Larson is an attending which means he barks, I fetch.”
“Anything else?”
“Nothing out of the ordinary. I called X-ray down to the ER, hung the fluids, wrote it in the chart, and took off for the night.”
The attorney scribbled something in the file and then looked up again. “About the burn on her face. Do you happen to remember which side of her face was burned?”
I closed my eyes. It had been a few years, but I could still see it on my memory’s highlight reel. “The left. Dr. Larson was standing on that side and she was crying. I didn’t see it at first, until he moved the collar and her head turned a bit.”
“We have a theory on the face burn. A medical team consisting of a group of orthopedics, internists, surgeons, and nurses review all of our medical records involving any lawsuit. They formulate an opinion on whether standard operating procedures were followed and if any malpractice occurred. During the review of Ms. Delmonico’s medical records, the team noted an inconsistency with the burn and the injury sustained to her neck.”
“What do you mean?”
“She suffered whiplash from the impact of the accident and tore a ligament on the right side of her neck.”
“So? That’s common.”
“Yes. But with the angle of the impact, her head should have snapped back to the right side and caused hyperextending of the ligament on the left side. The burn would be on the left side of her face if she was in the passenger seat like she said.”
“So she lied about where she was sitting? Why would she do that?”
“Our guess? She was giving the driver a hummer when the crash happened.”
I raked my hand through my hair. Which reminded me, I was going to have to get this mop sheared if I wanted anyone to take me seriously in court. “That sucks. But what does any of that have to do with me and the lawsuit? She’s suing for failure to diagnose a lower back bulging disc, right?”
“Shows a pattern of lying. She claims she’s got long-term pain and suffering. Bulging discs are difficult to prove one way or the other. Sometimes it’s easier for us to get the jury to not trust her than it is to prove we weren’t negligent. Not to mention, the driver was her boyfriend—her very married boyfriend. Pick a jury of a few married women, we’ll be on easy street.”
The law was a dirty business. “Did we do something wrong or not?”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s not always about right or wrong.”
“Really? I thought it was.”
The lawyer snickered. “Stay in practice long enough, those shiny ideals you have will dull.”It was late by the time I got home. The attorney had spent hours going over the questions I might be asked, even though I could have summarized everything I knew in under two minutes flat. I found Bridget asleep on the couch, with her e-reader still in her hands. Her beautiful mouth let out a sweet whistle with every exhale. I smiled to myself thinking how wrapped around this woman’s finger I was if I thought even her damn snore was cute. Not wanting to wake her, but knowing she wouldn’t sleep well on the couch, I gently lifted her and tiptoed toward the bedroom with Bridget cradled in my arms. She woke as I set her down.
“Hey,” she whispered. “What time is it?”
“It’s a little after nine.”
“I must have dozed off in the middle of reading my book.”
“Yeah. I’ll turn off your reader. I’m going to go take a shower anyway. Close your eyes. Go back to sleep.”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
I kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, luv. Sweet dreams.”
I was at her doorway when she called after me. “Simon?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you lie with me for a little while after your shower?”
I looked at her to confirm exactly what she was asking. “In here?”
She nodded.
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. I’ll be back in a few.”
I knew what inviting me into her bed meant to Bridget. So, even though I was exhausted from being up going on thirty hours, I wanked off quick to reduce the chance that my hard-on would be disrespectful the first time she let me in. After my shower, I locked up the house, peeked in on Brendan, and went back to Bridget’s bedroom. She was on her side, so I slipped in behind her and kissed her shoulder.