A few days after the power outage, Danny had weaned off the
ventilator and now was attached to a CPAP machine with
little oxygen prongs going up his nose. The CPAP helped to
keep his oxygen levels up and prevented him from having apneic
spells. Checking the monitor frequently, Sophie saw that all
his numbers were good. He had resumed tube feeds of Sophie’s
pumped breast milk. Just as Dr. Morrison had predicted, he was
on the mend. The world had righted itself, and Sophie was able
to relax and breathe.
Today, Kim wasn’t her usual upbeat self. She was short-tem
pered and impatient. It took a couple of tries for Sophie to get
her attention.
“Hey, Kim, how’s your day going?”
“Oh hey, Sophie, my day’s going just fine. It’s tonight that
I’m kind of worried about,” Kim replied while slamming a drawer
that held alcohol wipes and small gauze bandages.
“Why? What’s up this evening?”
“We have a ‘mandatory,’” she said, making air quotes, “staff
meeting at Mezza Luna, that new restaurant, up the block. It’s
supposed to be super nice and have great martinis and food.”
“And what’s so bad about that?”
“Because it’s mandatory! My boss tells me I have to go. It’s
being paid for by Kindred Pharmaceuticals. They supply us with
everything—our meds, our preemie formula, needles, syringes,
IV fluids, even preemie diapers. They’re just one of our supply
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JULIE HATCH
companies, but they get the most business from Metro Hospital.”
She slammed another drawer, this time catching her finger in it.
“Damn it!” she exclaimed as she stuck her finger in her mouth.
“Sorry.”
She continued. “We shouldn’t be made to sit and listen to
a sales pitch from a drug rep. They’re bribing us with food and
drinks. People complain about how expensive health care is. This
is why. Big Pharma is buying our business, and it’s all wrong.”
“Huh,” Sophie said thoughtfully.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be taking this out on you. You’ve got
more than enough to think about.” Kim sat down next to Sophie.
“That’s okay. You feel pretty strongly about it, huh?” said
Sophie.
“Yeah, I do.”
Rihanna snickered. Kim and Sophie looked over at her.
“Rihanna, what do you think? You know Dr. Sheldon. Should
the pharmaceutical companies be paying for extravagant dinners
for the nurses every month?” Kim asked.
“You ladies don’t know the half of it. Last year, a group of
docs took a golf trip to Hawaii. It was an all-expenses-paid trip
with an unwritten agreement that the doctors would prescribe
their latest asthma medication.”
Kim added, “And the doctors and nurses have administra
tion’s ear and can influence which company they order from. It’s
shady and it’s crooked.”
There was a pause.
“But don’t mind me,” Kim said, lightening the conversation.
“That’s just my humble opinion. Please don’t repeat.” She stood
up and gave Sophie’s knee a pat.
Later in the day when Kim was sitting alone, charting her notes
for the shift, Sophie watched a guy wearing an official-looking
ID talking with her. Kim was nodding and smiling as she listened
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THE VERY BEST OF CARE
to him. He left some papers on the table next to her before he
left.
Sophie went over to her.
“Hey, Sophie, what’s up? I’m just wrapping up here and get
ting ready to sign off to the evening shift.”
“Yeah, and getting ready for your Mezza Luna meeting,”
Sophie teased.
Kim cringed. “Thanks for reminding me.”
Sophie picked up the pile of papers the man had left next to
Kim. They were brochures with Kindred Pharmaceuticals stamped
on the back. She leafed through them.
“Oh, those,” Kim said. “Josh just dropped those off. He’s the
rep who’s running tonight’s meeting. I guess he expects me to
brush up on the drugs he’ll be talking about. That’s not gonna
happen.” She tossed the brochures in the trash and glanced at
Sophie. “You didn’t just see that.”
Sophie pretended to cover her eyes, and they both laughed.
“I’m sure your meeting will be fine. Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Sure, ask away.”
In a more serious tone, Sophie said, “You remember Anna?
The mother who hemorrhaged and died in triage the same day I
was there?”
“Oh, that was horrible.”
“Supposedly her baby came to the NICU. Do you know what
happened to her?” asked Sophie.
“I don’t remember seeing that baby up here.” Kim put her
charts down, trying to recall what had happened to that baby. “I
suppose she could have gone to another NICU in the city.” She
thought for another moment. “Yeah, maybe she was transferred
in the middle of the night, though I don’t know why they would
do that.” She paused. “Huh. That’s all I can tell you.”
“I was just wondering.
