Robin Cook - Crisis

"They had to find new doctors."

"Which I'm afraid is often easier said than done. Did you help with this chore?"

"We offered names and numbers."

"Did you just get them out of the Yellow Pages?"

"They were local physicians, with whom my staff and I were acquainted."

"Did you call these physicians?"

"In some cases."

"Which means in some cases you did not call. Dr. Bowman, did it not bother you to abandon your supposedly cherished patients who were desperate, looking to you for their health needs?"

"I didn't abandon them!" Craig spat indignantly. "I gave them choices."

"No more questions," Tony said. He rolled his eyes on the way back to the plaintiff's table.

Judge Davidson looked over his glasses at Randolph. "Does the defense wish to recross?"

"No, Your Honor," Randolph said, half rising out of his chair.

"The witness may step down," Judge Davidson said.

Craig stood, and with a deliberate step, walked back to the defense table.

The judge turned his attention to Tony. "Mr. Fasano?"

Tony stood. "Plaintiff rests, Your Honor," he said confidently before retaking his seat.

The judge's eyes swept back to Randolph.

On cue, Randolph stood up to his full patrician height. "Based on the inadequacy of the plaintiff's case and lack of evidence thereof, the defense moves to dismiss."

"Overruled," Judge Davidson said crisply. "The evidence presented is sufficient for us to go forward. When court reconvenes after a lunch break, you may call your first witness, Mr. Bingham." He then brought his gavel down sharply, and the sound echoed like a gunshot. "Recess for lunch. You are admonished again not to discuss the case among yourselves or with anyone and to withhold any opinions until the conclusion of the testimony."

"All rise," the court officer called out.

Jack and Alexis got to their feet along with everyone else in the courtroom as the judge stepped down from the bench and disappeared through the paneled side door.

"What did you think?" Jack asked while the jury was ushered out.

"I'm continually amazed at the level of Craig's apparent inner anger at these proceedings, that he has such little self-control over his behavior."

"With you being the in-house expert, I'm surprised you're surprised. Isn't it consistent with his narcissism?"

"It is, but I was hoping that with the insight he expressed yesterday at lunch, he'd be able to control himself better. When Tony merely stood up even before he started his questions, I could see Craig's expression change."

"Actually, I was asking your opinion of how Randolph orchestrated the part of the cross-examination we heard."

"Unfortunately, I don't think it was as effective as I would have hoped. It made Craig sound too preachy, like he was giving a lecture. I would have preferred the whole cross to have been punchy and direct, like it was at the end."

"I thought Randolph 's cross was pretty effective," Jack said. "I never realized Craig was such a self-made man. Working as hard as he did at gainful employment while going to medical school and still getting the grades he did is very impressive."

"But you're a doctor, not a juror, and you didn't hear Tony's direct. Craig might have struggled as a student, but from the juror's perspective, it's hard to have sympathy now that Craig and I are living in what is probably closer to being a four-million-dollar home, and Tony was very clever on his redirect, the way he brought back Craig's negative feelings about the patient, the red Porsche, the girlfriend, and the fact that he had to forsake many of his old patients."

Jack reluctantly nodded. He had been struggling to look on the bright side for Alexis's benefit. He tried a different tack: "Well, now it's Randolph 's turn in the sun. It's time for the defense to shine."

"I'm afraid there's not going to be much sunshine. All Randolph is going to do is present two or three expert witnesses, none of whom are from Boston. He said he'll be finished this afternoon. Tomorrow will be the summations." Alexis shook her head dejectedly. "Under the circumstances, I don't see how he could turn this thing around."

"He's an experienced malpractice attorney," Jack said, attempting to generate enthusiasm he didn't feel. "Experience generally prevails in the final analysis. Who knows. Maybe he has a surprise up his sleeve."

Jack didn't realize he was half-right. There was to be a surprise, but it wasn't going to come from Randolph 's sleeve.

"Magazines?" the waif-like young woman questioned. Jack thought she was no more than ninety pounds, yet she was walking a half dozen dogs ranging in size from a gray Great Dane down to a small bichon frise. A clutch of clear plastic poop bags stuck out of her jeans' back pocket. Jack had stopped her after following his established route back down through the Beacon Hill neighborhood. He had it in his mind to buy some reading material in case the wait for the backhoe operator turned out to be overly protracted.

"Let's see," the woman said, scrunching her face in thought. "There's a couple of places on Charles Street."

"One would be fine," Jack said.

"There's Gary Drug on the corner of Charles and Mount Vernon Street."

"Am I going in the right direction?" Jack questioned. At the moment he was on Charles Street, heading toward the park area and the parking garage.

"You are. The drugstore is a block down on this side of the street."

Jack thanked the woman, who was pulled away by her impatient canines.

The shop was a true, ma-and-pop-type store with an old-fashioned cluttered but welcoming ambience. The whole shebang was about the size of the shampoo section in a generic chain drugstore, yet it was a true emporium. Products that ranged from vitamins to cold remedies to notebooks were tucked into shelving that went from floor to ceiling along the single aisle. At the far end near the pharmacy counter was a surprisingly wide selection of magazines and newspapers.

Jack had mistakenly agreed to lunch with Alexis and Craig. It turned out to be like being invited to a wake where you were expected to converse with the deceased. Craig was furious at the system, as he called it, at Tony Fasano, at Jordan Stanhope, and mostly at himself. He knew he'd done a terrible job despite the hours of practice he'd been through with Randolph the night before. When Alexis tried to get him to talk about why he had so little control of his emotions, knowing full well it was in his best interest to do so, he flew off the handle, and he and Alexis had a short but nasty exchange. But mostly Craig just sat for the hour in sullen withdrawal. Alexis and Jack had tried to talk, but the intensity of Craig's irritation gave off vibes that were difficult to ignore.

At the end of lunch, Alexis was hoping Jack would return to the courtroom, but Jack had begged off with the excuse that he wanted to get to the cemetery by two in hopes that Percy Gallaudet had made short work of his contribution in rectifying his buddy's sewer system. At that point, Craig had angrily told Jack just to give up, that the die had been cast, so Jack needn't bother. Jack had responded that he'd gone too far involving too many people to abandon the idea.

With several magazines and a New York Times under his arm, Jack proceeded on to the parking garage, got his sad-looking Accent out into the daylight, and headed west. He had a bit of trouble finding the route that had brought him into the city that morning, but he eventually recognized a few landmarks that indicated he was on the correct road.

Jack pulled into the Park Meadow Cemetery at two ten and parked next to a Dodge minivan in front of the office building. Going inside, he found the frumpy woman and Walter Strasser exactly as he'd left them in the morning. The woman was typing into a monitor, and Walter was sitting impassively at his desk with his hands still clasped over his paunch. Jack wondered if he ever did any work, since there was nothing on his desk surface to suggest it. Both people looked in Jack's direction, but the woman immediately went back to her work without a word. Jack proceeded over to Walter, who followed him with his eyes.