At that point the door opened and the assistant delivered the packets to Peter’s attorney. It wasn’t clear if Peg was addressing her assistant when she asked, “What are those?”
Kopp flipped through the pages, before dealing them out to the others. “I didn’t know what sort of disposition you folks would be in, so I asked my associates to put together a handout.”
Cooper stared at the papers. Then he took off his glasses and set them on the table before him. “Dr. Larsen and I need to have a conversation. Mr. Oblitz, you probably want to stay. Bucky, too. If the rest of you would please excuse us for a moment.”
Kopp carried his plate back to the buffet, refilled his coffee, and then he and the rest filed out of the room.
BACK IN THE hall, Martinez sidled up to Peter. “Can you tell me why Tony Ogata would call Emergency Care at a quarter of five?”
“What did he say?”
“Colston hung up on him. She figured he was some tweaker playing a prank.”
“It’s all a big misunderstanding,” Peter said.
The head of Geriatrics winked at Peter. “Martin will give me the real story soon enough.”
That Martin would talk was inevitable; he didn’t know how to shut up. And another thing, whatever Martin said would become the sanctioned version of events. The future waited to define you.
•••
AFTER TEN MINUTES, Peg stuck her head out. First she thanked Dr. Martinez for his time and his discretion. She reminded him that the meeting — which, she repeated, had been a part of an information-gathering process and not a disciplinary hearing — was confidential. Then she requested that Peter and Kopp return to the conference room.
Down the hall, Kopp stood before a shadow box filled with the jewel-like carapaces of Japanese beetles. He started when Peter tapped him on the shoulder. “Are they ready for us?” They were.
BACK IN THE conference room, Cooper held up a copy of Kopp’s handout. “There’s no precedent for viewing medical practice as a form of free speech. I mean, it’s brilliant, but I don’t think you want to run with this.”
Kopp paused at the coffee urns. “Are either of these decaf?”
Peg brushed her hair away from her face with a palm. “They should be marked.”
“Never mind,” the attorney said. He lifted another muffin from the tray and ate it as he returned to his seat.
Peter felt completely superfluous.
“We’ve been playing catch-up all morning,” Peg said.
Oblitz held a gold pen between his hands, as though it were the reins to a show horse. “I find this very troubling. The board does not approve.”
“Perhaps,” Kopp said, “if someone could outline what’s being disapproved of, we might make some progress.”
Cooper leaned forward in his chair. “Would you like me to explain the hospital’s grievance?”
“Dr. Silver and I might find that helpful.”
“On January 7, 2008, more than two years ago, Dr. Silver entered into his current employment contract with this hospital.”
“That contract,” added Oblitz, “has stood up in previous litigations, if that’s your strategy.”
“Contracts are always blameless,” Kopp said. “If I may borrow a metaphor from woodworking, one must never select a glue that is stronger than the materials you intend to bind. I digress. Please continue, Mr. Cooper.”
The hospital’s lawyer leafed through a pad of paper in front of him. “Dr. Silver, an employee of this hospital, did willingly arrange to see a patient outside of this hospital, thus violating the terms of his contract, and, in the process, did expose this institution to considerable financial liability. Further, by failing to perform his duties in a professional manner, Dr. Silver damaged the reputation of this institution. And, finally, though his contract requires that he speak to a supervisor before accepting work outside of his duties at this hospital, he agreed to be compensated for his improper and unprofessional care.” Cooper flipped through a few more pieces of paper. “That about covers it.”
Everything the man said was true: Peter had gone to see Cross at his hotel; he’d neglected to even take the man’s pulse; and, for his incompetent aid, the singer had agreed to pay him whatever Ogata billed. While Peter was glad that Martinez had been spared an accounting of his uselessness, he felt certain these facts would make the rounds.
“You didn’t stipulate the punishment the hospital is seeking,” said Kopp.
“It’s not punishment,” said Dr. Larsen.
“The board is going to recommend Dr. Silver’s position be terminated,” Oblitz explained. “The hospital will determine at a later date whether it needs to seek damages.”
Peter wanted to slide under the table and hide. Seek damages! It sounded barbaric. And what would they seek damages for?
If he couldn’t be a doctor, how would he pay his mortgage? How would he get out of bed? His friendship with Martin would be doomed. He’d have to go somewhere far away. Maybe he’d find a desert all to himself. The Arctic was a desert, or so people claimed, a desert of frozen water. He stared at the backs of his hands. Was he looking at a doctor’s hands?
“I think what Dr. Larsen meant,” Cooper added, “is that there is no intention to be vindictive.”
Kopp stood up and buttoned his suit coat. “It’s fortunate, no, it’s miraculous that you managed to withhold those allegations while Dr. Silver’s colleagues sat in this room. Because if you had aired those sorts of mendacities in front of the people he works with, in front of the very people who sit on promotion boards and peer review committees, then we would have no choice but to sue this hospital for character defamation and slander, a suit which I would be eager to try personally.
“But rather than wrestle with fabrications, let’s look at the facts at hand. It is true that my client is an employee of this hospital. It is also true that last night Dr. Silver was contacted by an individual needing care. It is true that my client, a medical professional, did meet with that individual. However, at no point did he provide care. In fact he urged that individual to seek help at this medical facility. Your allegation that Dr. Silver was paid, or otherwise compensated for his actions, is patently false. Further, at my office I have signed affidavits supporting everything I just told you.”
“Our information comes from a very good source, an unimpeachable source,” said Oblitz. “You can have all the affidavits in the world, but that hardly makes your version true.”
Kopp said, “If I was sitting where you are, I’d be upset, too. But while I understand your frustration, I don’t allow people not acquainted with law to lecture me on her rules. For now, I’ll take it on faith that Mr. Cooper is still lead counsel for this hospital, and that Mr. Oblitz’s little homily is unrelated to our common business.”
The board member jerked to his feet, causing his chair to fall over. “I don’t think you need me here anymore,” he announced. “Peg, I’ll be expecting a call later today.”
Only after Oblitz left was Peter able to raise his head.
Kopp poured two sugar packets in his coffee. “That’s a great example of the Dark Ages mentality. ‘What I see is what there is,’ very anti-Enlightenment, very flat Earth.”
Cooper said, “Maybe you can tell us what we’re missing.”
“The elephant in the room is that the individual that Dr. Silver saw last night is none other than the musician Jimmy Cross. If it had been someone else, a person on the street, you would have spoken with them directly. However, fame is its own kind of shield. Am I right to assume no one here has spoken with Mr. Cross?”
“It’s not as though he’s in the phone book,” Cooper said.
“Everything you’ve alleged is hearsay. Now Mr. Oblitz claimed your information came from ‘an unimpeachable source.’ Let’s play a parlor game: I’ll see if I can’t use deductive reasoning to determine the identity of that source.”