Bad Habits Part 81

Kim looked to the clock. It was early, just after seven. "No problem. I'm sorry, who are you again?"

"My name is Heath Anders. I represent Dr. Mathew Donnelly in the upcoming review for the retention of his medical license."

Kim had forgotten about the hearing. Here she was making plans to go and throw herself at his feet, and the purpose of the trip was far greater. He needed her. "Is he okay? When is the hearing?"

"It's been moved up to tomorrow. And to answer your question, no, he's not okay. He doesn't know I'm calling. However-"

"I'll come," she blurted.

"Pardon?" he replied.

"Oh, um, I'll be flying in tonight. I'll be there in time for the hearing," said Kim.

"But?"

"I want to testify," Kim said.

"Slow down, Mrs. Jensen. You need to retain council of your own if you are going to testify."

"No. I want to testify."

"In doing so, you risk the loss of your license or worse. The charges are more severe against you," He warned.

"I understand."

"I'm afraid you don't," Heath said.

"I do understand. Listen to me. I already lost my license. Mercy doesn't want to press criminal charges. The worst has happened," Kim sighed. She dropped her forehead in her hand. Simone said they had to stop running, and grow up. She'd been so selfish with her addiction. She'd risked everything for nothing. It wasn't about her heart anymore. She really felt like it was about her soul. Now, she understood why Diane fought so hard for forgiveness.

"Dr. Donnelly is a good doctor. He doesn't deserve this. Please, give me the information. I'll be there." Kim said.

The Next Day- "As Chairman, it's my duty to inform you of the purpose of this hearing." Dr. Collins cleared his throat. "The designation of the members of this board convening today is determined on the merits of the case. The opinion of this minimum quorum is, however, binding. Dr. Mathew Donnelly, we are here today to discuss the accusations put forth by Mercy Hospital during your short tenure while under probation from this board's ruling on-"

Mathew tuned Dr. Randy Collin's out. His gaze went to the clock again. His flight to New York left in just five hours. All he could think of was seeing her again, hearing her voice, holding her, explaining his heart. He was hoping against hope that despite her battle with sobriety, the offer of friends.h.i.+p would open the door once more for him to enter her life.

"Dr. Donnelly? Shall I repeat the question?"

Mathew blinked back out of his thoughts. Randy Collins was a long time rival. They'd known each other since the second grade and hated each other even before then. Their fathers were rivals. It's just how things were. So it was of no surprise when they both returned from medical school (no coincidence that they decided on the same career) they chose to pick up where they left off. They were both up for the Chief of Pediatrics at University Hospital. Mathew won. Collins never got over it. Now he was the chairman. Great.

"I'm sorry, repeat the question," Mathew said dryly.

"Did you knowingly cover-up the theft of narcotics to protect a nurse, Kimberly Jensen?"

"I-"

"Don't answer that," Heath interjected.

Mathew fell silent again.

"He most certainly should answer," Dr. Collins snapped.

Heath sat forward. "Mr. Chairman, doctors, allow me this. The accusations against my client are based on the slanderous lies of a doctor Suresh Patel who is now under investigation by the Medical Review board of New York."

Mathew had no idea that Patel was under review. Mercy had done what they could to protect Patel. This was news to him. Heath cut him a look. His eyes shone with knowledge and cunning. He had to admit his friend was good at what he did. Heath had pulled a white rabbit out of his hat to get him off the hook with his past offenses. What rabbit was this?

"Suresh Patel's offenses range from s.e.xual hara.s.sment to distribution of a controlled substance, and abuse of his power. The doc.u.ments are before you. Also, you will find attached a copy of his arrest warrant served just three days prior. A female patient Patel was s.e.xually involved with accused him of a.s.sault. In her statement, she says that he supplied drugs in exchange for s.e.xual favors. "

Dr. Mary Hayes nodded. She removed her gla.s.ses and closed the folder. "I've read up on Patel, and, yes, you are correct. He is facing grave charges. However, that does not absolve your client of guilt. The Chief of Staff at Mercy Hospital says that this nurse Jensen suffered an overdose during which time Dr. Donnelly was present. This, Mr. Anders, sounds dangerously close to the case of Elaine-"

"Yes it does but-"

"No buts," Dr. Collins snapped. "His ethics are in question. He understood the terms of his probation with this board. He again had a relations.h.i.+p with a staff member that brought about disastrous results. That's what should be answered today."

"I agree," Heath said. "But not by Dr. Donnelly." He rose and crossed the room to open the door. Heath nodded to someone in the hall, beyond Mathew's sight. And then she stepped in. A vision reserved for his dreams. His Kimberly. She shyly walked in further, not seeing him at first, but noticing the panel of doctors. She was conservatively dressed in a cream business suit that flattered her curves and shapely legs. Her coppery reddish hair was brushed back neatly into a conservative bun. She looked vibrant, healthy, and as beautiful as she did when he first saw her in nurse's scrubs.

"What are you doing here?" Mathew asked, but the question was for Kim not his attorney. She wasn't supposed to be there. No, she was somewhere in New York, healing, and he was on his way to offer her anything to make things right between them again. He had it all worked out. Mathew rose. "Kim?"

She looked to him and he fell into her eyes. Soft and apologetic, they s.h.i.+fted between him and the others gathered, and then back to him again. The heartbreak between them was fresh in her eyes. After all the time that had pa.s.sed, he still felt the urge to protect her. So strong was the urge that it gripped him by the gut and seized his lungs.

"Dr. Donnelly, I'd advise you to sit," Collins said.

"No." Mathew said flatly. "Kim... Mrs. Jensen has nothing to do with this. This is my hearing, I don't want her here."

"I would like to be heard, please," Came her soft reply. Again her eyes fastened to his with such a pleading that no man in the room could miss the meaning. "I'm as much a part of this case as you are," she said softly, finally looking to the doctors. "Please."

"No!" Mathew slammed his fist down.

Dr. Collins smirked. He leaned over to his colleagues and said something that Mathew couldn't hear. Mathew didn't care. He went to Kim, stepping in close, towering over her as he used to do. "Don't do this. They will take away your nursing license. They'll rule on you too," he said through his teeth.

"It's gone, Mathew. I won't be a nurse anymore and you and I both know it. Please, let me help you," Kim said.

Mathew glared at Heath. "You called her after I told you not to?"

"She wanted to come."

"Ahem." Dr. Collins cleared his throat. "Nurse Jensen, please take a seat. We'd love to hear what light you can shed over these proceedings."

"I object," Mathew said.

Dr. Collins chuckled. "This isn't a court."

"Isn't it? You decide on my career and hers. Isn't that what this is about?" Mathew challenged.

"Dr. Donnelly, we are well aware of what this is about. You can object if you wish, but she will be heard. Overruled. Now sit down or we will have you escorted out," Dr. Oliver said, who had remained silent up until then.

He looked to the panel of doctors and then to his ex-lover. His attorney led her to the free chair in the room. He wondered if she was well. Not physically. Physically she was perfect. But he had taken the surface for granted before, never able to see how sick she was. Wasn't it too soon for her to be out of rehab? How long had she been in Charleston? Did she come there just to testify? He wondered many things. He tried to capture her eyes again when he returned to his seat, but she didn't look at him, only at his jury. It was hers too now that she had forced her way in.

"Okay, Mr. Anders, it's your show," Dr. Collins said.

"Mrs. Jensen, how do you know Dr. Mathew Donnelly?"

"He was a doctor at the hospital I worked at, Mercy Hospital in New York."

"Can you please explain the nature of your relations.h.i.+p with Dr. Donnelly."

Kim looked to Mathew. She gave a weak sweet smile that softened her gaze further. Still he felt her touch in that smile. "He and I were friends, very good friends." To hear her say the word, 'were', crushed him. But he managed to show no emotion. No one, even her, needed to know how he suffered for her. Finally, she looked away. "That was until I ruined it by abusing his trust. Dr. Donnelly only wanted to help the nurses, the staff, bring some order to Mercy." Kim sucked in a deep breath. "I was... I am...I'm an addict. I have been for sometime. I was-" she sucked in another breath. This time he couldn't capture her eyes. She trained them on some unseen part of the room. "Dr. Patel prescribed muscle relaxers for me at first. They were for back pain. However, they did little to ease my discomfort so I approached him again. He was my doctor after all. He suggested Vicodin, a high dosage. I knew it was against policy to go to such a drug and not report it, but he said it was temporary and gave me a prescription to try out. I did. It worked. For a moment, the pain eased. But soon it wasn't enough and he was always ready to help me find ways to escape. So it began."

"Speak up, Mrs. Jensen. We can't hear you," Dr. Collins said.

"I started abusing the drugs, snorting, injecting some and others. Patel was always there to offer more," Kim said.

"For how long?" Dr. Hayes asked, her brows furrowed up in worry.

"A while. Over a year or two." Kim cleared her throat. She looked up again at Mathew when she spoke. "When I refused to sleep with Patel for more, I started stealing them."

"Do you understand the seriousness of your actions? The laws you broke? The risk you put the hospital and your patients in?" Dr. Hayes asked.

"I do. I'm sorry for it. I understand my addiction put many people that I care about in danger, including my children," Kim sniffed. "I tricked Dr. Donnelly on more than one occasion to feed my addiction. The overdose was not his fault. He had nothing to do with it."

"Thank you, Mrs. Jensen, that will be all," Heath Anders said.

"Not so fast," Dr. Collins interjected. Mathew s.h.i.+fted in his chair. He glared after the doctor, knowing his intent. Kim nodded. She wiped free a lose tear, bravery was all over her face. She sat there ready to face any ruling or consequence. Though it killed Mathew, he was so proud of her strength, her growth.

"What was the nature of the relations.h.i.+p between you and Dr. Donnelly?" Dr. Collins pressed.

"We were friends."

Collin's smirked. "Were you intimate?"

"That's enough," Mathew snapped.

"Answer the question, Mrs. Jensen," Dr. Collins insisted.

"Yes. We were lovers. We were close."

"And it was through this affair, that you were able to influence Dr. Donnelly to do your bidding?"

"Affair?"

"That's enough!" Mathew exclaimed.

Dr. Collins glared at Mathew. "I suggest you refrain from dictating to me the limits, when it's evident you can't conform to those same boundaries. The last time you took to sleeping with a colleague, a little girl died. This time there was an overdose, theft, and possibly more."

"No, there wasn't," Kim said.

"Have you forgotten your oath? Shall I remind you both, to do no harm? Shall I?" Dr. Collins asked.

Mathew shook his head at the doctor's grandstanding, but Kim panicked. She sat there with her eyes stretched wide. The doctor turned back on her. "Are we to conclude that it was through this affair that you both were able to conceal your addictions?"

Kim shook her head. "It was through our affair, as you call it, that he was able to save my life. What you have before you is something very rare. And take it from me, I've worked with many doctors. The days of them caring more about the people around them than their egos, bureaucracy, and malpractice suits are long gone. Dr. Donnelly is kind, talented, committed, generous, and most importantly, selfless in how he treats everyone under his care. I suggest that next to that list of offenses, you draw another line. One that reflects his accomplishments, the lives he saved. Take another look. You want to talk about ethics, then you need to really reevaluate the word." Kim looked over to Mathew, her eyes weepy. Her bottom lip trembled so she drew it in. "I'm so sorry, Mathew, for everything. So very, very sorry."

"That will be all, Mrs. Jensen," Dr. Collins said.

Kim nodded. Mathew couldn't move or speak. It was as if he was the only one trapped in time while his life rose from her seat and walked out the door. And in that moment, during the delay in his response, she was gone.

"We have heard from Mrs. Jensen. Do you have anything you want to add?" Dr. Oliver asked.

Mathew rose. "Send me your reply in the mail," he said, turning and walking out.

"We aren't done!" Collins yelled after him or maybe it was Hayes. He wasn't sure. Before their objections registered, he was hurrying through the polished halls of the hospital, down the steps, and into the atrium. He turned in a full circle as face after face pa.s.sed him by. She was gone. Just like that she was gone.

"Not again, d.a.m.n it," he said and then raced for the doors. Outside it was the same. Cars drove down the avenue. People walked along the sidewalks. The hospital parking lot was filled with cars and to his left were a few taxis. He turned and went after them.

"Mathew?"

He stopped, looked back to see Kim stepping out of the doors to the hospital, tissue crumbled in her hands. She looked equally shocked to see him. He couldn't put into words the depth of relief that overwhelmed him at the sight of her.

"Kim. Hi."

"Hi," she said, stepping toward him.

"I um, I thought you left," he fumbled.

"Oh? Yes. I was in the bathroom. I had to get tissue." She held up the ball of tissue she'd used to dry her eyes.

"Right. Tissue."

They stood there as others had to circle them to get through the doors.

"You look good," he blurted.

"You too. Except for the beard, I can't decide if I like it," Kim said.

He laughed.

Kim smiled.

Mathew scratched his beard, looking her over. His throat was desert dry. His chest felt bruised internally from the rapid beats of his heart. They stood there facing each other as the sounds of sirens, people talking, and the automatic doors to the hospital sliding open played on around them. He wanted to just remain there staring at each other for eternity.

"Is it over? Already?" she asked with concern.

"Is what over?" he answered.

"Mathew, the hearing. Is it over?"

"Oh." He finally tore his eyes from her and looked to the doors. "Probably. I can't believe that you came. I'm sorry if Heath forced this with you."'

"I wanted to!" she blurted.