Richard Mabry - Medical Error

" Scusi." Benny seemed to materialize at Nick's side. "Would you like anything else?"

Nick looked at Anna and received a brief headshake in response. "No, Benny. That's fine. This was a wonderful meal."He pulled out his wallet and handed over a credit card.

When Benny had shuffled away, Anna said, "Would you at least let me pay my share of this? I can write you a check."

"No, unless somebody's been charging things to my credit card without my knowledge, I think I've got this one covered."

In less than a minute, Benny was back, holding the credit card by his thumb and middle finger much as one would hold a dead rat by the tail. " Scusi," he said. "Nicolo, I'm afraid this is no good."

Nick's heart rate galloped up a notch. He was pretty sure he was below the limit on his credit card. Barely below it, perhaps, but pretty safe until his next paycheck. Had he joined Anna as the victim of credit card theft? "Benny, are you sure?"

Benny grinned, first at Nick, then at Anna, "Sure, I'm sure. You can't pay with this because we not gonna take you money tonight. Maria and me want this meal to be on us."

"Thank you. That's very kind," Anna said.

"It's our pleasure." Benny turned to Nick. "Maria and me agree. This lady's much nicer than that big guy you had in here last time. He was-a not your type at all."

Nick watched Anna fumble for her keys and wondered why no one had yet invented a woman's purse that would pop out a key ring or wallet with the push of a button. Or maybe they had. He really didn't have any way of knowing, come to think of it.

Anna unlocked the front door, then turned back with it half open. "Nick, thanks for taking my mind offmy troubles for a while."

"My pleasure," he said. "Thank you for sharing your troubles with me. And I'll get in touch with you as soon as I research the drug allergy thing a bit more. How shall I contact you? I know your home number, but do you have a cell phone?"

Anna laughed, and Nick could have turned a cartwheel. That smile, that laugh, made the whole evening a success.

"Surprisingly enough, I have all the modern conveniences," Anna said. "Answering machine, e-mail account, even a cell phone. Are you fishing for my number?"

"Busted. I found your phone number and address using the Internet, but your cell and e-mail are another matter entirely. By the way, you can rest assured that tight-lipped assistant of yours didn't spill anything. Matter of fact, I had to hang up before she could sic your chairman on me. I'm brave, but I'm not stupid."

"Okay, you win. Come on in, and I'll write down that information. And you should probably give me yours, since we seem to be linked in this effort." She pushed the door fully open and flipped on the lights in the living room. "Park somewhere. I'll be back in a moment."

Nick chose the sofa, then leaned back, closed his eyes, and let the events of the day unroll on the screen in his mind. He'd started out working on the material for his chairman, bored to tears and frustrated with life in general. Then came a routine autopsy that left him with some unanswered questions. That, in turn, led to the beautiful redhead who, if his nose wasn't fooling him, was brewing coffee and would shortly be sitting down next to him. Life was good.

In a few minutes, Nick sensed movement in the room. He opened his eyes in time to see Anna set two white ceramic mugs on the coffee table. "Hope you don't have an aversion to drinking coffee this late at night. Black with Sweet'n Low, right?"

"Right. Good powers of observation, Doc."

"That's why they pay me the big bucks." Then her smile faded. "Or, at least, why they've paid me so far. Don't know how much longer I'll have a job."

"Don't let it get you down, Anna."

She snuggled down at the opposite end of the sofa from him and blew across the top of her mug. "I'm trying not to. I'll work as hard as I can to straighten things out, but in the end I'll have to trust God."

"I wish I could tell you that'll make everything come out right, but I can't," Nick said. "It's been quite a while since I thought God cared about my problems."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really. I shouldn't have brought it up." Way to go, Nick. Nice way to spoil a perfectly good evening. He took a sip of coffee and winced when it burned his mouth. "Let's just leave it at this: I'll work as hard as I can to help you out of this mess. If God intervenes, so much the better. But I'm not going to count on it."

Anna awoke, as she had each morning for years, before the sun came up. She rolled out of bed, stretched, and froze. There was no need to get up early today. No rounds to make. No surgery to perform. No clinics to staff. Not even any paperwork to plow through. She'd been suspended. Well, put on leave, but the effect was the same. Until she could clear herself of the charges against her, she was a doctor without a place to practice.

In the shower, Anna's mind couldn't stay focused. Her thoughts flitted among the problems in her life, rushing back and forth like a rat in a maze. It felt different- sort of empty- not to be heading out the door, coffee in a travel mug, already planning her day. How long would it be before she could get back into that routine? Days? Weeks? The prospect was too depressing to think about.

She still hadn't bought groceries, so Anna ate a piece of dry toast and a cup of coffee for breakfast. What she'd give for a doughnut fix from the medical school's food court, but she couldn't bring herself to go back there. At least, not yet.

After her second cup of coffee, she sat down with a yellow legal pad and began a list. She'd start by addressing the effect of the identity theft on her credit. Based on her experience yesterday, she figured it wouldn't be simple.

More than an hour later, Anna finished the last of several phone calls and heaved a sigh, not so much of relief as of exhaustion. She'd advised all three major credit-reporting entities of the identity theft. They'd promised to make the necessary adjustments to her record, although it might take a little time. That was the good news. The bad news was that, in order to formalize a fraud alert, she had a laundry list of hard-copy material to forward to each company. Then there was something called a security freeze, so no one could open accounts in her name in the future. And it was all going to require copies-lots of copies.

Her first thought was a trip back to the medical school to use the copy machine in the Surgery Department offices. But the prospect of the stares, the questions she was bound to get, made her stop and think. Maybe she could go to Kinko's instead. She probably had enough in her checking account to cover the cost.

On the other hand, the copier in the department was nice, and it wouldn't cost her a cent to use it. After all, she should probably try to conserve money, since she didn't know how all this would finally shake out. And maybe she'd drop by and see Nick while she was there. Maybe he had more information about the cause of Hatley's death. Besides, she'd enjoyed their time together last night. And she could certainly use a friend right now.

Anna decided it was a wonder Nick had been interested in seeing her again, as distracted as she'd been when they first met. But last night had been better. The meal, the company, Benny's antics-all had brought a smile to her lips when she needed it most. That had to be a good sign.

She gathered up the material she'd need to copy. In the process, Anna paused before the mirror in the hallway. Hair looked okay. Makeup could be a bit better. And maybe she'd change into that new blouse and skirt before she left.

On the drive to the medical school, her little Toyota seemed a bit balky, but Anna put it down to an extension of the bad luck she was having. Maybe she'd gotten some bad gasoline. Maybe it was time to change the spark plugs. She could never recall how often that was supposed to happen. She'd ask around. One more thing to add to the list. She was about a mile from home when the engine coughed three times like a two-packa-day smoker, then quit.