Back at the hospital, Sophie and Adam climbed into the wait
ing limo. The driver welcomed them and told them traffic
wasn’t bad and that they should be at the WMI home office in
forty minutes.
“Forty minutes? I thought their office was in Midtown.”
“Mrs. Young, you must be thinking of their regional office.
Their home office is in Westchester—you know, ‘Westchester
Medical Industries’?”
“Oh, right,” she answered the driver. A wary but curious
Sophie whispered to Adam, “I still don’t understand why they
want to meet with us. Really, I’d rather be spending my time
packing up Danny and getting him home. We’re so close.”
Adam held Sophie’s hand. “I have no idea, but it’s got to
be something good.” He ran a hand along the leather limo seat.
“Maybe something like that magic pill you wanted, the one that
would take you back in time.” He gave her a wink. “We are due
for some good luck.”
The driver pulled up to the entrance of WMI. The building
sat high on a hill overlooking Long Island Sound. The grounds,
covered in snow, were expansive. The driver opened the limo
door and escorted them through the entrance. They were ush
ered upstairs and taken into a spacious waiting area. Magazines
were carefully laid out on the large table in the center of the
room: Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of
Health Care Management.
278
JULIE HATCH
A large man swept into the room. His big smile and even
bigger presence offered them a welcoming and hearty hello. “I’m
Mr. Baker, assistant director of WMI. Come on into my office.”
They followed him in.
“Please, make yourselves comfortable. Can I get you some
coffee?”
“No thank you,” Adam and Sophie answered simultaneously.
They settled into two chairs.
“It is a pleasure to meet you both. The reason I invited you
was to offer you a personal apology for all you and your son have
been through.”
Sophie braced herself, distrustful of most people she’d met
over the past several months. She did not want to be patronized
or to allow this man to think that her experience could be erased
with the wave of his executive hand.
As if reading her mind, he said, “I know my apology may
not mean much, given what you’ve been through. I apologize on
behalf of WMI, because we are responsible for what goes on in
Metro Hospital. We don’t accept responsibility for Dr. Wagner’s
egregious actions, but we are sorry for all the harm he has brought
to you and the other families.”
Adam and Sophie looked at him, unsure of his point.
“Which is why my boss and I would like to offer our help in
bringing a group lawsuit against Dr. Wagner. None of this hei
nous damage can be undone, but he can be forced to pay for all
the past and future medical bills you are bound to incur.”
Sophie didn’t know what to say.
“I see you’re at a loss, or maybe you don’t trust my peace offer
ing. I assure you, WMI is behind this one hundred percent. Dr.
Wagner should have to pay for the damage he has done. The
state licensing board and the FBI will punish him as they see fit.
But as far as I know, nobody has talked about bringing justice to
the families. Financial justice.”
279
THE VERY BEST OF CARE
Sophie opened her mouth to speak but couldn’t find the
words.
“Shall I give you a chance to think about our offer?”
“No, sir!” exclaimed Adam. “We don’t need to think about
anything. We’ll take any help we can get in paying Danny’s med
ical bills. Thank you so much.”
Mr. Baker stood to leave as they all shook hands. “Wonderful
then. Our legal counsel will be in touch with you in the next
couple of days to get this rolling. Again, my sincerest apologies.”
Waiting for the elevator down, Sophie and Adam simultane
ously looked at each other in amazement and silently mouthed
Whaaaaaat? to each other.
During the limo drive back to the hospital, they talked about
what this windfall would mean—they couldn’t believe it. And to
think that they had thought the worst of WMI.
“They aren’t just buying us off, are they?” asked Sophie, sud
denly unsure about what they’d agreed to. “Are they paying us to
not say anything?”
“I don’t think so, Sophie. WMI may be a big corporation
with a reputation to maintain, but this isn’t about them. It’s
about Mitch Wagner, the one bad apple.”
