In The Darkest Hour

Part One - Chapter Three: Dismissed

Walking into the hospital the next morning, Isla frowned as she spotted several of the staff whispering and staring at her; she didn’t know why but it felt like they were talking about her.

Isla shook her head, she was sure that she was just being paranoid and she had a feeling that they were all just talking about what had happened yesterday; there was sure to be an investigation.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” one of the other nurses spat at Isla walked further into the hospital, she stopped to look at the other woman wondering what was going on.

Isla hadn’t done anything wrong and she had no idea why the woman was talking to her like that, she shook her head intending to ignore it when she heard something else.

“Who does she think she is coming back here?” another nurse called aloud, she was gossiping with some other nurses; she glared over at Isla who stared back confused about what was happening.

Isla looked around realising that something was clearly not right, she didn’t have to guess what they were talking about and she wished someone would just tell her what she was meant to have done.

“Señorita Cortez… my office,” Matron Ramirez said making Isla look at her boss, she had no idea why it looked like she was in trouble; she swallowed wishing that she had stayed at home while she racked her brain trying to figure it out.

Isla had expected to be called in to speak about what had happened to Isabel Mebarak but it seemed like decisions had already been made.

Isla slowly walked towards Matron Ramirez, she didn’t like what was happening and she hoped that she would be able to put her side across without too much trouble.

***

“Take a seat Señorita Cortez,” Matron Ramirez said signalling to Isla, who looked around the room that was filled with important people; she had things to do and she hoped that this was a quick meeting.

Isla slowly sat down, her eyes moving from each person who sat opposite her and she knew that this couldn’t be good; she set her bag at her feet wanting to calm herself a little.

“Do you know why you have been called here Señorita Cortez?” the chief of medicine said staring at the nurse, he frowned not happy with any of this and he was sure that it would be a quick fix.

The only thing that stopped Gerard from suing the hospital was that his mother worked there as a director and it had taken Montserrat a lot to calm her son down after what had happened to his fiancée.

“It’s about what happened yesterday,” Isla replied confidently, she eyed the other members of the group wondering what they were all doing here; she recognised so few of them but she did recognise that Montserrat was watching over proceedings.

Isla hoped the woman would be able to get justice, no one deserved to lose someone like Gerard had and she was sure Sharon would be punished for her horrible practice; she didn’t deserve to be a doctor.

“It is… we have decided that a termination of contract is in order and striking off the medical record,” Matron Ramirez said firmly, she couldn’t believe it was one of her lot in here, it happened a lot and she was disgusted that they all couldn’t keep their jobs.

Isla nodded her head, she thought it was the perfect punishment and she was sure that the group had made the right decision; Sharon was a threat to all her patients.

Montserrat stared at the nurse, she wasn’t sure if she was stupid or something for seeming pleased with what was happening; she had liked Isla when she had first met her and now she thought of herself a fool.

“Good because Dr. Gomez is a terrible doctor, I mean she drinks on shift, she steals from the medicine unit to supply herself,” Isla agreed with a smile, she had no idea why she had been called into this meeting if they had already made a decision about what they were going to do.

Montserrat stared for a moment, no one had brought this up to her and she frowned looking down at the notes that she had; she flicked through them realising that there were important things missing.

“We aren’t talking about Dr. Gomez, we are talking about you Señorita Cortez,” the chief of medicine interrupted, he was well aware of Sharon’s problems and he had agreed to cover them up because they would make him look bad; a nurse was easily replaced not the reputation of his hospital.

Montserrat turned to look at the chief of medicine, she hadn’t been in the meeting with Sharon; she hadn’t even known about it until she was told that they had found out what had happened to Isabel, they hadn’t even waited for the autopsy results.

“Me?” Isla squeaked staring shocked, she didn’t believe this for a second and she was sure that there was some sort of mistake; there was no way that she could have heard them right if they were talking about firing her.

“What did I do wrong?” Isla asked trying to work out what was going on, she had a feeling that Sharon had thrown her under a bus to save herself; she swallowed fearing what she would do now if she did lose her job.

Matron Ramirez tutted wondering why no of the nurses could admit that they were at fault, the doctors were hard working and yet the nurses all told horrible lies about them.

“Your actions lead to Isabel Mebarak’s death,” the chief of medicine said bored of the conversation already, he had spoken in depth to Sharon and he saw no fault in her actions except that she was overworked because the nursing staff were lazy.

Montserrat frowned, she couldn’t speak up and stop this since she didn’t have the power and it would take her days to open a proper investigation into the hospitals conduct which would take months to complete.

“I’m sorry… you think this is my fault,” Isla replied, she wasn’t going to let this go and she already knew this was going to end badly for her; she had seen the headlines before she had come to work, people were out for blood and she was the one taking the fall.

“Dr. Gomez refused to listen to me when I tried to tell her something was wrong, no one checked on Isabel overnight and her notes were appalling and missing in parts,” Isla tried to explain, she had a list as long of her arm about how Sharon had let Isabel down and she couldn’t believe that the doctor was getting away with this.

Montserrat frowned, none of that had been included in the notes that she had been given and she only had to look at Isla to know the poor woman was being honest and truth; she looked devastated and it hurt to watch.

Sharon had seemed spaced out and hadn’t even acknowledged Montserrat when the woman had seen her after her meeting with the chief of medicine; it only made Montserrat more convinced now that there was some cover up going on.

“You are dismissed Señorita Cortez… get your things and get out of my hospital,” the chief of medicine snapped ending the conversation, he was tired of this and he didn’t need Isla revealing things that he had hidden from the board of directors.

If Montserrat conducted a full investigation then she would find tons of mistakes and errors across the board and the chief of medicine knew he couldn’t have that; he would be the first to be fired because of his doctors’ failings.