La Façade des Plumes

Chapter XVI - Aftermath

June 14th, 10:30 am

The clock ticked loudly, echoing in the dead room, echoing in her thoughtless mind. She leaned back in her chair, inhaling the cold air. Her eyes burned, longing to shed the mournful tears for her late friend. A shiver ran down her body as she opened her eyes, glancing at the funeral invitation on her desk. Her bottom lip quivered at the sight of Montana's photo on the front of the invitation. Tenderly, she traced her finger along his face before the photo was soaked by a fresh tear.

A sudden knock on the door made her jump. Quickly, she carefully wiped the mascara tears from her eyes before sliding the invitation under a random binder. "Come in!" she called out. Isley popped her head through the door, applying a warm smile to her face, "I'm late, just as we agreed," she said softly. Keeping her eyes down at her desk, Karen cleared her throat, "Please, sit."

Isley took the seat across from her, still holding her warm expression, "How are-..." Karen cut off her sentence by clearing her throat once more. "Okay, let's get on with this, I'm sure we both have other tasks we'd like to complete today," Karen groaned, flipping open her journal.

"May I ask why you called this meeting with me?" Isley yawned. Karen adjusted her reading glasses, "I called this meeting to see how your first day as Acting Head went. This is an opportunity to let me know if you're struggling in certain areas and if I, Dr. Hawkins, and/or another attending could assist you with those tasks. This meeting will be reoccurring every two weeks or whenever you need to call in an attending for a lifeline. Do you understand, Dr. Swann?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I understand."

Karen clicked her pen, "Well then, let's begin...on a scale of 1-10 how would you personally rate your workday yesterday on June 13th of 2017?"

"I think we know what day it was yesterday, Karen."

"I'm just keeping record, Dr. Swann, now please answer the question."

Isley sighed, "I guess an eight?" Karen paused, looking up at her face. "...five?" Isley whispered. Still, Karen kept her gaze, cocking an eyebrow. "Okay, fine...a good three." Nodding, Karen recorded the number in her journal, "I understand you had several complications with your new patient, Angelina...or 'Anna' Alvarez. Could you tell me more about what happened?"

"There isn't much to say, she's a patient in critical condition who had to endure a hospital transfer, which, in my professional opinion, should not have been authorized in her current state. Later that day, Ms. Alvarez unexplainably flatlined-"

"And where were you?"

"I was in the cafeteria with Dr. Garrison."

"I heard it took you longer than expected to respond to your pager. Why did that occur?" Isley leaned back in her chair, furrowing her eyebrows, "Am I in trouble, Dr. Lin?"

"Nope, I'm simply just trying to recap your day yesterday."

"Well, this recap seems more of an interrogation. Besides, I thought this was between us."

"It is."

"Then why are you keeping a record of what happened?"

Dropping her pen, she too leaned back in her seat, "I'm simply doing this to cover our ass in case we run into another legal litigation."

"So you can throw me under the damn bus?"

"No, it's to show that you aren't a potential danger to this hospital and its patients. If we were to get caught, we'd have records that you are anything but a threat." Isley crossed her arms, "I don't like this."

"And you think I do?"

They stared at each other, arms crossed. "Let's continue," Karen sighed, lifting her pen. "Now, please explain why your response time to your patient took longer than expected."