Chapter 3 - The Paper Kingdom
Twenty-four hours later, the waiting room outside the executive administration offices of Sterling Memorial Hospital smelled of expensive cologne and cheap audacity.
Daniel Bennett sat on a plush velvet sofa, adjusting the gold cufflinks I had given him for our fifth anniversary. Margaret sat beside him, wearing a bespoke camel wool coat, her posture rigid, her chin tilted at the imperious angle she used whenever she spoke to retail workers or waitresses.
"I don't understand why we have to sit here with the administrative staff," Margaret complained loudly, loud enough for the nurses at the front desk to hear. "We came to sign the discharge waivers for Claire and retrieve her personal items. This whole charade has gone on long enough. She fell. It was an accident. The police are blowing this out of proportion because of that neighborhood gossip across the street."
"Calm down, Mother," Daniel muttered, though his eyes darted nervously around the opulent wood-paneled hallway. "Her phone is still turned off. Her lawyer hasn't returned my calls. But once we get her signature on the nondisclosure and the mutual release form, the district attorney can't move forward without her testimony."
He tapped a leather briefcase resting on his knees. Inside were two documents drafted by his family attorney: an agreement stating that my fractured ribs were the result of an accidental tumble down the cellar stairs, and a revised financial authorization transferring my remaining inheritance trust to Daniel to "manage household legal fees."
"She’ll sign," Margaret sneered softly. "She’s weak, Daniel. She has no family left. Her father died penniless in a public ward, and she has nowhere else to go. A few days without money in a city this expensive, and she’ll crawl right back to the front door."
The heavy double doors at the end of the hall swung open.
Mrs. Gable, the chief administrative assistant who had served my grandfather for thirty years, stepped out holding a silver clipboard. She looked down her reading glasses at the mother and son with quiet disdain.
"Mr. Bennett? Mrs. Bennett?" Mrs. Gable inquired.
"Finally," Margaret scoffed, standing up and brushing nonexistent lint from her skirt. "Take us to Claire. And tell whoever authorized this ridiculous police guard outside her room that we will be filing an official complaint with the hospital board."
"There is no police guard outside her room, Mrs. Bennett," Mrs. Gable said smoothly. "Because Mrs. Bennett is not in a patient room. She is currently presiding in the boardroom."
Daniel frowned, pausing mid-step. "Presiding? What are you talking about? Claire is a patient. She has cracked ribs and a concussion."
"The Board of Directors of the Sterling Health Network has convened an emergency session regarding vendor procurement fraud and patient endangerment," Mrs. Gable continued, her voice entirely devoid of warmth. "And as the principal owner, Mrs. Bennett requested your presence."
Margaret let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Principal owner? What kind of ridiculous game is this? Claire works from home as a freelance copy editor. Her father was an unemployed drunk!"
"My father was a humanitarian who refused to take a dime from corporate medicine," a clear voice echoed from the end of the corridor.
Margaret froze. Daniel spun around.
I walked toward them down the wide hall. I wore no hospital gown, no slippers, no signs of defeat. Beneath a tailored navy blazer that concealed the tight medical brace around my ribs, I wore a crisp white silk blouse. My hair was swept up, my makeup immaculate, and pinned to my lapel was the solid gold caduceus pin my grandfather had worn for forty years.
Behind me walked four armed uniformed officers and Evelyn Shaw, the most ruthless forensic corporate attorney in the state.
"Claire?" Daniel stammered, his face draining of color. "What... what is this costume?"
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"It’s not a costume, Daniel," I said, stopping three paces away from him. "It’s my birthright. Welcome to Sterling Memorial. You're standing in my living room."
***
