Christy McKellen - Mills & Boon Showcase

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat, having to purposefully steer his mind from the graphic images from earlier tonight that were etched in his mind. The site of Kate and Tate walking through the intensive care unit’s automatic doors helped his cause.

He studied them, looking for signs of how Chloe was and also in an attempt to define their relationship. There was a familiarity, a trust between them that he envied.

Kate had changed into her hospital scrubs, the dark blue matching the smudges under her eyes.

“How is she?” he asked. Tate took a moment to look at Kate, though Matt had no idea what meaning was meant to be expressed.

“Excuse me,” Tate said, before he walked away down the hall of the busy unit.

“She’s going to be okay.” Kate’s voice brought his attention back to her.

“What happened to her?” He knew enough about medicine from his work in medical defense to know that healthy young women did not end up in the intensive care unit without a serious reason.

“We don’t know. Well, the doctors who worked on her know, but they are maintaining her right to confidentiality,” she replied, her frustration and despair obvious. She pulled the elastic band from her hair, allowing it to tumble around her shoulders in an effort to release tension. He reached out and drew her to him, wrapping his arms around her, and was comforted when she relaxed into him. He didn’t say anything, didn’t want to break this moment of respite between them. He moved his hand up to the base of her head and gently massaged the tense muscles beneath his fingers.

He didn’t know how long they stood together, but he savored every second. She finally pulled away and stepped back to look at him. “I need to check on Chloe, shower, and get to work.”

He placed his hands on her upper arms, not wanting to break their connection. “What can I do, Kate?”

“Nothing, there is nothing you can do. I have a change of clothes and toiletries here so I don’t need to go home. Tate is on nights this week, so between us one of us can always be with Chloe. I need to focus on her, Matt. She needs to be my priority.” There was a clear message in her statement, and Matt knew better than to try to change her mind. Kate would spend twenty-four hours a day at the hospital if that was what it took to do her job and be with Chloe. She had ranked her priorities, Chloe and then work. He wasn’t on her list, despite what had happened between them.

“Promise me you’ll call me if you need something, Kate. I would also like to know how Chloe does. She seems like a good person.”

“Yeah, she really is.” She sighed and then drew a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “I need to go. Thank you for being here.” Then she broke free and walked away.

Matt left the hospital just as the sun was rising in the cold spring air. He stopped at his apartment to shower and change clothes and was in the office by seven. He knew that there was nothing he could do to help with Chloe’s recovery, but he could do the one thing he had been hired to do, and get Kate out of the lawsuit.

He had reviewed the file and after talking to Tate and Kate he had a clear understanding of the events of that evening. Tate and Kate had been together, and that night Tate had ended their relationship. Kate had been upset and had made several attempts to talk to Tate and he had ignored her calls to his cell phone. Kate had then been called back into the hospital, where she had been when she’d been consulted on Mr. Weber’s care. After the results of the CT scan had established the diagnosis, Kate had organized Mr. Weber’s care and made attempts to contact Tate Reed as the second on-call vascular surgeon. She had reached him via the switchboard within twenty minutes and Mr. Weber had been in the operating theatre within twenty minutes of that contact. All the medical experts agreed that Mr. Weber’s aortic dissection had not been survivable, based on the extent of damage seen on the CT scan images.

There was no way the Webers’ attorneys had not had the same medical opinion. It was the most consensuses Matt had ever had on a medical opinion, with all five of the firm’s retained experts plus an additional two independent consultants reaching the same conclusion.

So what was fueling this lawsuit? Was it Kate’s conversation with Mrs. Weber after her husband’s death? Was it greed? He didn’t think so. He had learned a lot about Mrs. Weber in his preparation and she didn’t seem like the type of woman who would sue for the purpose of undeserved financial gain. Was it love? The couple, by all reported accounts, had been devoted to each other, but, that being said, being in love and losing that loved one alone didn’t typically lead to multi-million-dollar lawsuits. That left guilt. Guilt could lead to just about any action, as he could attest to, based on his own past actions.

The question he had to answer now was what was there for Mrs. Weber to feel guilt about to the point she would want Mr. Weber’s death legally proclaimed the fault of Boston General and the medical staff responsible for his care?

Typically, this was the point in the case where the firm’s private investigators would take over and within one to two months would produce the report he needed. But he didn’t have that kind of time.

He read the file again and then picked up the phone. “Hello,” the voice of a woman answered on the other end.

“Mrs. Weber, this is Matt McKayne. I represent Boston General in the lawsuit that has been brought against them. I was wondering if we could meet? You are welcome to bring your attorney along, of course, if that would make you feel more comfortable.” Matt waited as there was no response other than the sound of her breathing.

“Why should I meet with you, Mr. McKayne?” she asked tentatively.

“Because I want to do the right thing, Mrs. Weber. For your sake, as much as that of everyone else involved in this case.” He was being sincere. Mrs. Weber would eventually lose this case and the longer it went on the more legal expenses she would have, with nothing gained except for more unresolved grief.

“I need to discuss it with my attorney.”

“Of course. Ask him to contact my office and we can meet whenever you are ready. I appreciate you talking to me today.” He had no anger towards this woman, despite that fact that she was responsible for the lawsuit that could destroy everything Kate had worked for. If the lawsuit was successful, everything he had given up would have been for nothing. But Mrs. Weber was also a widow. She had already lost her husband, the love of her life. She had lost enough. Matt couldn’t be angry with her, however misguided her actions had become.

“We’ll be in touch, Mr. McKayne. Goodbye.”

Forty-five minutes later, her attorney called and an appointment was made for the day after next. That gave him forty-eight hours to find the real reason behind the lawsuit and get the case dropped.

He was missing something. There were facts somewhere that didn’t add up, with the case and with Kate herself. For the first time in his career he felt inferior to the task at hand. His feelings and involvement with Kate had led him to change his approach, and his focus had been on her and not on the facts of the case. Not that he was succeeding with Kate. Physically, they connected. Emotionally he still felt like they were living two parallel stories.

He picked up the desk phone again and dialed his assigned paralegal. “Andy, it’s Matt. I want every piece of information we have on the Boston General case. I also want the security video from the emergency department waiting room and the triage area for the night in question.”

He didn’t wait for a response and hung up immediately. He needed to focus on the case and find the small thread that would lead him to the answer. Would getting the lawsuit dropped win back her trust? He didn’t think so. She wanted something more from him and he didn’t know what that was. He had already confessed to her the truth about his lie and why he had done it, but that hadn’t been enough for her.