Chapter 10

Refreshed by sleep and a hot shower Philly was glad she wasn’t torn apart by guilt. She knew she still loved her husband and held nothing more than a sexual connection to Shane Proctor. She was glad she hadn’t woken with him as she scanned the queue of people waiting outside the breakfast area. He didn’t seem to be down yet and she scanned each elevator arrival looking for him. Finally, just when she was about to give up after waiting near 10 minutes, he came off one car with a young redhead he was engaging in conversation.

Philly waved and headed in to find a seat, not wishing to witness Shane set up another date. However he was just behind her when she sat. There were cups and carafes of coffee and a menu with three choices of breakfasts. Fruit and scones, Eggs, any style, with meat, and Eggs, any style, without meat. A waitress rushed to the new arrivals and took their order as Shane remarked how it was a fast and efficient way to serve 400 people hot breakfast.

As they sipped coffee, seeming to avoid each other’s eyes Shane finally spoke up.

“Your husband is a very lucky man.”

“How so?”

“Well, if I may get brutally personal...”

She leaned over to him and whispered low, “I had your penis coated with my pussy and your cum in my mouth not 12 hours ago. We’ve gotten brutally personal.”

“You’re very good at sex, you bring out the animal in a man.”

“I was pretty innocent when I met you, I believe it’s you who’s the expert.”

“No, seriously, I don’t have THAT effect on other woman, and I certainly don’t get that kind of ... uh ... pleasure, with anyone else.”

“If you’re looking for a repeat, you can stop the flattery now. NOT happening!” She whispered emphatically.

“No, definitely not! We did something beautiful with each other last night that can’t be repeated. In case you’re wondering, that was NEVER my intention. It just happened.”

“I’ll take you at your word at that. Now let’s drop the subject.”

Suddenly Philly was startled awake by the ringing of the phone. She tried to wipe the cobwebs from her dream of Shane Proctor and realize where she was. She saw the time as 7:00 a.m. and reached for the phone, then discovering it was her cell phone, not home phone.

“Phil, answer that!” Charlie wailed from the other side of the bed just as Philly clicked on.

“Philly it’s Patti! You’re getting me into trouble at Christian Hospital! I had a call this morning that if continued to ask questions they would complain to the practice. I said I was just socializing and she interrupted me with a loud “END IT, you don’t want to get involved” and slammed the phone down.”

“Sorry if I got you in hot water, just do as they say and stay away from anyone you questioned for a few days. Make it obvious you aren’t interested and were just gossiping. I’ll cover for you with the practice.” Philly told her.

Philly would love to know who called Patti, although she suspected it was Shelly Peters. One thing was for sure, there is a constant watch on who asks questions about Jack Spagner. Obviously Emory Richards knew something and someone was helping protect secrets. The State Medical Examiners Review Panel must have a file on each of them and although she couldn’t access them, she could ask Shane Proctor to review them with the evidence she might have. She hoped to hear from Shane soon.

Charlie had gotten up to pee after being awakened by the phone and stayed in the bath to shower, as it was close to their regular 7:15 alarm. Philly peeled back the covers and realized she was naked from the night before romp. As she began to roll out she hit a large cold wet spot and jumped because it was obviously not still cum from the night before. There was a large, 12 inch or more, circle of wetness under her and she wondered if she peed. Then she remembered her dream, playing out her affair with Shane. She blushed, but smiled to herself that the memory would still elicit such reaction.

Forty five minutes later, with a piece of toast in one hand and a coffee in the other she stood in front of the TV to get the days weather. She finished the last bite of toast and was quaffing coffee so as to leave and be at Hampden for the day’s appointments when her cell rang once again.

“I thought when we got together in San Diego we decided we could work together professionally, and it took you almost 8 years to call me?” Shane said without even a hello.

“Hey, you have a phone too, Shane” She retorted.

“I was afraid if I called you it might look like a booty call.” He joked.

“That’s not funny, but I understand your thinking. That was a wonderful night and in many ways I don’t regret it, but I’m sure you understand the ways I do.” She answered curtly.

“Tell me Shane, where does your schedule bring you today?”

“I’m just outside Edison right now, I have a meeting at 9 a.m. in Milford and have to be back in Trenton at 1:00 o’clock, then I’ve got a shock visit with a team to a hospital at 4. Obviously I can’t say where.” He said.

“Anywhere near Jersey City at 3:00 this afternoon?” She asked.

“Yes, as a matter of fact I could be, why?”

“I really need to talk to you about a potential problem, one that, if true, could be huge. Ummm, I sort of trapped you, ... you’re going to Christian Hospital, aren’t you.”

“I can’t tell you yes or no, but please don’t mention this call to anyone, OK?”

“Remember the Skyway Diner?” She asked.

“Yes, it’s right on my route.”

“I know, I’ll meet you there at 3:00, OK?”

Except for a few casual waves in passing at medical facilities, they hadn’t seen each other since San Diego. Philly was surprised to see Shane already seated in a booth when she got there.

“How are you, so good to see you.” Shane said as he got up and waited for her to sit, always the gentleman.

“I’m well, Shane. Always good to see you. I’m hoping you can help me out. There’s a story that is just going to break nationally, and it’s really quite unbelievable, literally.”

With those words Philly began to tell Shane the whole story of Selena and Joe and how they got out alive and survived the last 9 years. When Philly got to the part about possible stonewalling by Shelley Peters, Shane stopped her.

“Wait! You’re not jerking me around; you don’t have any inside information on why we’re going there today?” He said looking at her incredulously.

“No, why?” She asked taken aback by the accusation.

“Emory Richards has petitioned the board to take him off probation and get his suspension wiped from his record. In our investigation we wanted to see how he and Jack Spagner fared since their altercation, ... umm” He said fumbling through papers in his folder till he found the one with the term he sought,... “ in an open patient area putting staff and clients in danger”

“Now this is strictly confidential Philly, swear on everything we ever meant to each other you’ll keep it that way...” He said as she nodded and touched his hand.

“In every incident report from the last 10 years, Jack Spagner’s name has been redacted and most anything he and Richards worked on together is not in the electronic file, only in the manual file, and that is kept in Ms. Peter’s desk. When she is questioned about it she puts an SD card in her computer that suddenly fills the missing holes. You can see the records, but only in her presence.” He said with a quizzical look on his face.

“You DO know that she and Spagner live together and she is Richards’s step-sister.” She asked.

“Oh, I didn’t know they were a couple. THAT must be awkward. I knew she was his step-sister.” He said.

“Why is this Dr. Richards suddenly hot to get his name off probation?” Philly wondered aloud.

“There’s an opening at Hackensack General for an ER Chief of Staff. He’s more than qualified, and by everything we see, a very good doctor. If he was clean, we were going to wipe his record and recommend him, and this whole Spagner cover-up thing sprouted from it all. It really shouldn’t affect Richards in the long run.” Shane said casually.

Philly near jumped out of the booth at him, grabbing both arms just above his wrists.

“You’ve GOT to question him on what I’ve shown you!! He KNOWS something about all of this stuff with Spagner, that’s what the fight was over, and something to do with the Jane Doe transfers and a Jane Doe’s baby!”

“Hey, calm down, I can’t go and accuse him of something based on your circumstantial evidence, especially when I’m going there to tell him his record is now clean and will probably get the Hackensack job.” Shane said dismissing her. “It’s bad enough I have to go into the hospital to meet with this Peter’s woman under the pretense of questioning an employee just to make sure she stays there today, so we can arrest her.”

“Arrest her? For what?”

“Falsifying records, basically. We don’t condone it.” He said with a sarcastic smile.

“So you’re going to show up, you, and a hit team, with a cop?”

“A couple State Troopers.” He reiterated.

“You can’t make that false accusation of Emory Richards, BUT, how about you all show up in Peter’s office and I ask to have Richards paged and no one says a thing. When he shows up and see’s you guys, the Statey, and me, he’s going to figure it’s about this case I’ve been asking around about. If I tell him he can walk away clean if he spills his guts, before any of you say anything, I don’t think he’ll call my bluff.” Philly offered.

“Suppose he tells you something prosecutable?” Shane asked, checking his watch.

“Unless it’s rape or murder, how far can you turn your head, and what about statute of limitations.” Philly wondered.

“Mmmmm, if a crime was committed against either of your patients, they were actually UNABLE to testify for the limitations period. Could be that a DA might go after it.

“What if he just tells me and you never hear it? I really think he’s only guilty of covering things up.” Philly pleaded.

“Let me head over to Christian and I’ll conference with a few people, police and our lawyers. DON’T GO ANY FURTHER THAN THE LOBBY. I’ll look for you there. Don’t say ANYTHING to ANYBODY!” Shane said sternly.

“Don’t worry, I don’t want this to blow up anymore than you do.” She said shaking her head at his dramatics.

Philly grabbed the check and told Shane to leave so he wouldn’t be late. She spent the drive over to the Hospital running over scenarios in her head. For some reason she thought Emory Richards might be a sympathetic character if he were cornered. He seemed compassionate to the Hansen’s when Shelly had acted reluctant to give out information on “Sue Johnson”. He was obviously well versed in emergency procedures and was a good surgeon which was obvious by his potential hiring in Hackensack. She doubted he would do anything stupid to jeopardize his career, which seemed to be taking off. Unless she was reading it wrong, Dr. Emory Richards was protecting Jack Spagner for the sake of his step-sisters happiness, and to cover any possible accusations that he might be an accessory to anything Spagner may have done.

At 4:15 APN Phyllis Flowers sat in the main lobby of Christian Hospital. She had been there for almost 20 minutes of fidgeting and checking her watch worrying she may have missed Shane Proctor and the group he was to be with. She had checked her cell phone once again for a missed call and to be sure she had bars enough to get service. Paranoia was getting the best of her until she saw the tops of the large hats New Jersey State Police wear. They were coming up the stairs with 4 other men in suits, one of them being Shane Proctor. As she stood to meet them Shane said something to them as a group and they stood down as Shane went over to Philly.

“I teleconferenced with 4 of the board and based on my trust in you and your judgment, we won’t pursue Richards on anything unless he committed crimes himself, besides the covering for others, as long as you feel he is going to make full disclosure. His exchange of information to you precludes us from investigating that case any further. However, he should be made aware that if he is an accomplice to Shelly Peters’ crime, besides turning his head to it; we can’t help him, unless he wants to testify against his step-sister. Right now Emory Richards is in her office, with her expecting to sign a recommendation for an employee transfer, and he assuming it’s the Hackensack job. It’s imperative that you command the situation without a word coming from us. We might LOOK to be all together, but we can’t be part of what you’re doing. The State Police investigator recommends you approach him directly and say “You KNOW why I’m here. Come with me and we’ll talk.” ... you then promptly escort him to another room. Once you both leave, the State Police will charge Ms. Peters and arrest her. We’ll all leave and go before a magistrate and we’ll waive bail due to the nature of the crime. The State Medical Examiners Review Panel will take charge of all of the records of the hospital and then work to restore them to their original form. All future access to the files must be cleared through the panel. We don’t know how hospital administration will react to all of this. We have kept everything very quiet to assure there was no leakage or collusion. I’ve got smoothing and schmoozing to do once they take her out.”

“So what leverage do I have?” Philly asked.

“He doesn’t have the job at Hackensack yet, we haven’t lifted his probation. Listen Phil, any crimes that you think may have been committed are going to be very hard to prosecute due to the time that has passed. We don’t feel any way a judge would ever bother to hear the case.” Shane told her knowing they were words she didn’t want to hear.

“So that’s why I’m questioning him and not you or the police, and why he doesn’t need a lawyer present.” Philly said, exhaling deeply.

“Exactly, you have no authority but the State Police Investigator saw what you’ve given me and he thinks if you look like part of the team he may crack. Remember, and he should be made aware of this, I can hold the key to his getting the job. I have no good reason to lift his probation. Remember, when we went to look at his record, we discovered Michelle Peters crime, and he may be involved in that. That suspicion alone is enough to keep him on probation. I know you’re passionate about all of this you have going on, but evidence-wise, it’s nothing because it’s so stale. I know you think this Spagner character is guilty of something, but you’ll just have to take heart in the fact that he is going down for the same crime as Peters as we speak.” Shane said with a little smirk on his face.

“He is?” She asked.

“Yes, as soon as I give the go-ahead there is a team at Felsen to arrest him.” Shane said with a wink.

“All of this for falsifying records?” Philly said thinking it was overkill for the crime committed.

Shane leaned over and whispered to her, “Someone made insurance claims and skimmed money. We think we know who, and who didn’t know. I can’t say more. We don’t want this out yet. Understand?”

She gave him an all-knowing nod as Shane turned and began to lead the team to the elevators. Suddenly she became a little afraid that she may be in deeper than she had bargained. It became clear to her that she was to give the impression that she was a part of The State Medical Examiners Review Panel, but never say it.

The six men and one woman entourage got off the elevator and walked directly to the office labeled ADMINISTRATION, Records, Public Relations, Information. With Hospital cut-backs these offices had been merged into one office and the 7 strode through while the receptionist protested. They opened the door and the contented smiles of Emory Richards and Michelle Peters fell quickly. No one said a word and Shane turned to Nurse Flowers, nodding.

Philly stepped forward and said to Emory Richards, “I think you KNOW why I’m here for you today. Let’s go someplace where we can talk.”

Shelley Peters stood up and seemed relieved they weren’t there to speak to her, or so she thought as she said, “There Emory,” she said pointing to a door off her office, “the conference room should be free.”

Emory Richards nervously stood and went to the door with Philly right behind. He opened the door to reveal a large conference table in an otherwise empty room, besides a small pantry with refrigerator. He turned and looked at Philly, his brow furrowed and his eyes troubled.

“I guess we can sit here?” He said, his voice almost choking.

Phyllis Flowers began her bluff and waited to see if she could hook Emory Richards.

“We’ve done a lot of investigating and went over a lot of the records from 9/11/2001 and thereafter and found a lot of interesting things about you and your partner on the ambulance that day. You know that the woman, Selena Hanson Johnson is fully recovered both mentally and physically, as well as her husband, the man who dropped her off to you that day. It will become a major news story, The 2 who walked away from the Towers. How do think that is going to affect your job, your probation, and your chances of getting another job as a doctor?”

Emory’s face turned ashen and he sat back hard, his eyes seeming on the verge of tearing up. He put his face into his hands and was obviously thinking, trying to think of a way out of this maze he had been thrown into.

“I may have turned my head to a lot of things that happened; let things I could have controlled get out of control, but I didn’t DO anything besides stupidly keep my mouth shut.” He said as tears began to stream out of his eyes, and then his face turned red and he grit his teeth.

“All to protect that ASSHOLE who lives with my sister! God DAMN him! I covered for him once when I thought she was going to die anyway, but then it snowballed and he kept throwing it in my face that I could get in as much trouble covering up in the first place.”

Phyllis Flowers was proud of herself, now that she felt secure that the hook as firmly in Emory Richards. Now she had to begin to reel him in.

“Come clean and I can make sure that your probation is lifted and you get The State Medical Examiners Review Panel recommendation for the job at Hackensack General. One codicil though, if I think you’re lying, or you trip over a fact I know to be true, we go back out there with the others. In other words, cooperate with me and I’ll do all I can to help you.” Philly said.

“I don’t believe you can do that.” He said suddenly doubting her.

“I can as long as it’s just me and you in here. You just have to do two things to insure things will go your way. Come clean about everything that went on with Selena, and tell me that you’ve committed no crimes besides turning your head and covering up for others.” Philly said confidently.

“How can you...” Emory started to say but trailed off as emotions took over.

“Emory! We’re in here alone! I’m not recording anything, no one else will hear. It’s WHY we came in here alone. I need only say ONE thing to the Panel; that you cooperated. That should free you to have your probation revoked. So do you ease your conscience or not?” Philly said as she began to put papers back into her briefcase and stand up.

“Don’t go out there yet.” Emory Richards whispered as emotion and tears began to choke him up.

“I’m a good person, I really am. I got talked into covering up for something that didn’t seem to make a difference at the time. We didn’t think the woman would live. When Spagner called me back to the ambulance because she swallowed her tongue...”

“SLOW DOWN!! Start at the beginning, when she was first brought to you.” Philly asked as she took notes.

“He was frantic to leave and she was in no condition to go any further. I’m pretty sure she was half dragged the last part of the way. Her shoes were gone and her feet were bloody. She was in and out of consciousness and I discovered a huge trauma on the back of her head. I called the hospital with her vitals and asked for an air transport, you know, helicopter, but they said all air travel was grounded and to stabilize her. I began to wonder if the guy who dropped her had caused the injury. I remembered that I had broken a rule about containing a situation, I didn’t have any information on the man, nor did I know who she was. She seemed to be as stable as we could keep her and I could still see the guy limping away, probably a quarter mile up the road as it rose towards the Skyway. Moving that slow, I knew I could catch him fast so I left them, the woman and Spagner, and took a two-way in case he had a problem. I was gone for maybe 6 or 8 minutes when I got the may-day from Spagner, she was convulsing. I headed back, running as fast as I could between the stranded cars and frightened people. Somewhere along the way he shouted over the radio that she had swallowed her tongue and he had no response. He was contemplating cutting open her airway when I got there, but I dislodged her tongue right away and gave her oxygen. Her clothing was all open, Spagner said he was going to use the paddles to revive her, stupid ass. I got her warm and breathing but it sounded like she had some sort of blockage. I used an aspiration device, suction, to clear a large wad of mucus and like white grainy stuff, all I could think of was ground up dry-wall. Then her breathing seemed clearer, but she seemed in a coma, I wondered if she were brain-dead.