Mitch had prepared for his meeting with Madeline. He was
dressed in his most conservative suit, complete with his finest
Italian leather shoes. He combed his hair back one more time,
then entered the auditorium. Two security officers stood by the
door.
Madeline sat in the front of the auditorium and indicated
for Mitch to take a seat at the table. He looked around, surprised
to see an audience. He nodded to several fellow obstetricians as
he walked to his seat. Some pediatricians and a smattering of
NICU and triage nurses sat in the auditorium seats. A few medi
cal students and interns filtered in. He saw Sheldon and Rihanna
seated together. Then his eyes landed on Adam with an empty
seat next to him.
He heard whispering from the small audience. He didn’t
understand why there were people here for his meeting with
Madeline. Rita and Charlie were conspicuously absent. He felt
a bead of perspiration on his forehead. He searched his empty
pockets for something to occupy his hands. He clasped his hands
together and examined his fingernails before picking up his head
to look directly at Madeline.
Madeline stood to speak. “For now, I will address you as Dr.
Wagner, but I believe, very soon, you will no longer carry the title
of doctor.”
Mitch’s stomach lurched. This is it. This was what he’d been
dreading.
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JULIE HATCH
Madeline glanced at her watch, then at the empty seat next
to Adam. She began to read from the papers in front of her. “I
have decided to revoke your privileges at Metro Women’s and
Children’s Hospital based on our investigation of the follow
ing allegations: fraud, malpractice, misogyny, assault, falsifying
medical records, and animal cruelty. I’ve just learned that I’ll be
adding kidnapping to those charges.”
There was a collective murmur in the audience.
Sophie burst through the door at the back of the auditorium
and took the seat next to Adam. Madeline gave her a slight nod
and a relieved smile.
“You have deceived us all by breaking the Hippocratic oath
of ‘Do no harm,’” Madeline went on. “Rather, you have caused
great harm to numerous babies and parents. Those families,
whose lives will never be the same, have lost trust in this hospital
and perhaps the entire medical system. But you’ve also brought a
great cost to society. Some of these babies have been so damaged
by their premature birth that they will end up costing hundreds
of thousands, if not millions, to meet their medical and special
education needs as they grow.
“And the emotional cost to each family, I can’t even put
a dollar value on it. The child with severe brain damage, the
mother who is half paralyzed from a stroke—their medical care
will likely be in the millions. And that’s just the financial cost of
these abhorrent acts you carried out. I counted twelve wrongly
induced preterm deliveries over the past two years. The num
ber of complaints that have come forth about your inappropriate
touching of your patients is at least that high. The emotional
damage you have done to these women cannot be quantified.
Your actions are reprehensible, Dr. Wagner. A woman’s trust in
her physician is highly personal and should never be violated.
Her emotional bond with her child is priceless, something you”—
Madeline pointed her finger at him—“have fractured by causing
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them to be born prematurely. These mothers were robbed of a
normal nine-month pregnancy, delivery, and first year of life with
their babies. And they will never get it back. You robbed them of
some of the most precious time between a mother and her child.”
Mitch sighed heavily, but he refused to yield. He held his
head up as he kept his eyes on Madeline.
“It is beyond my authority to have you disciplined fully, as I
believe you deserve. That is up to the authorities. All I can do is
take away your privileges to practice here at Metro. You have lost
the respect of this hospital and its administration, as well as the
staff, and you owe everybody here an apology. The nurses, who
respected you and your work, no longer stand behind you, and I
doubt any of them will ever choose to work with you again.”
Mitch thought about Amanda. He was sure he could make
amends with her. She had said it, right? They were two peas in a
pod. Where was she anyway? Did she know about this so-called
meeting? He listened to Madeline prattle on with numbers and
documentation. She referred to the video, assuring anyone who
doubted her that there was no doubt of what Dr. Wagner had
done. Then Sophie Young stepped forward. She spoke for five
minutes about how she and her husband had pieced together
their proof of what he had done, and how her family had been
affected.
Madeline turned back to Mitch. “Your case will go in front
of the state medical board, and they will decide what to do with
you. The police will officially charge you with the laws you have
broken.”
When Madeline finished speaking, a hush fell over the room.
Mitch didn’t break eye contact with Madeline.
“Do you have anything you’d like to say?” Madeline asked
him.
“Yes. You have no idea what you’ve done.”
The auditorium door opened. Backlit in the doorway stood
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JULIE HATCH
Amanda. She looked at Mitch and smiled as she held up her
phone.
Suddenly, there was a deafening crack of a gun. Mitch dove
for the floor.
“Get down!” shouted one of the security officers.
Everyone in the room took cover under their seats, arms pro
tecting their heads, hands over their ears. Two more loud bangs
followed.
“It’s coming from the family planning hallway!” shouted one
of the security officers.
Then silence. Nobody in the auditorium moved. Feet raced
past the auditorium; panicked voices shouted. The sounds fell
into the distance of the clinic hallway. After several minutes, the
security guards instructed people to get up and move out quickly.
Mitch left with the crowd, scrambling to get away. He
searched for Amanda. There she was up ahead. He ran to catch
up with her. When she saw him coming toward her, she turned
and bolted.
