transferred out to Boston. According to HR, she left on Saturday. I'm guessing they gave her an ultimatum to run away as fast as she could before they dug deeper into my allegations. She transferred, they closed the case and don't have to deal with the fallout." Honestly, I knew that Eva would get off light, but that didn't mean it didn't bother me. If the roles were reversed, I'd be in jail, my credentials gone, my whole life wasted... but because she was a woman, it wasn't as serious to sexually assault someone? I wasn't sure, and I sure as shit wasn't going to dwell on it.
Eva was gone, and I was grateful for that.
"I'm sorry it's like that, but at least she's not here. Plus, Boston isn't like this sleepy town. I bet she's spent so long not being a real pediatrician that she'll get fired for negligence eventually, or she'll be so miserable actually doing her job that she'll quit."
Nodding firmly, I frowned when Mandy's blue eyes narrowed on me quizzically.
"Are you gonna sue her for what she did?"
"I thought about it, but considering how things played out... I just want to forget about her. If I never see Eva again, it'll be too soon. It's good I've been to Boston before because I'm never going back."
Mandy laughed.
I smiled a little as I nodded at her. "I need you to contact Dr. Sahper in Providence for me. Can you send him an email asking for his availability for a referral?"
"Yeah. I'll do that once I'm done digitizing these." She patted her stack of files lightly, and I was grateful Mandy wasn't actually a nurse but a medical coding specialist. She couldn't ask about patients, didn't care, just did her job, and went home with a nice paycheck for a little work. "I'm glad you got out of that unscathed, Carl. I mean, I knew you would, but it's like... you don't deserve that crap."
"Thank you, Mandy. I appreciate the sentiment. Let me know when you get that email out." I left the reception area to head back to my office, and I felt so refreshed. I felt that same elation as I had when I first walked into this space. My computer with my sign in information sat on the desk, right next to a picture of my sister. Flipping on the lights, I sat down in my chair without even taking my jacket off and sighed in utter satisfaction.
It wasn't until this morning that I'd learned that Eva had broken her lease, resulting in thousands of lost dollars because she's supposedly trashed her place in a rage. It wasn't until this morning that I'd heard the rumor that she'd been transferred with an extreme pay reduction. It wasn't until this morning that I'd learned she'd be on probation for three years, and any little thing could get her fired from the Boston hospital.
She'd lost her cushy job taking care of sunburns and kids swallowing sea water in the summer and no appointments in the winter. Now, Eva would be surrounded by truly sick kids and have to actually do her job. I feel a little bad for those kids, but...
Either she did her job and hated it, or she quit and couldn't work as a doctor anymore. The only thing better than this situation was the image of her in a green vest, bagging groceries, and being berated by middle-aged soccer moms.
As far as I was concerned, this was enough retribution for the Hell she put me through. When doing bad things, it will come back to bite ten times harder, and I was more than satisfied with this outcome.
"Ah..." Once Sahper got back to me about Melissa's referral, I was going to ask her on a date. Flopping my head back to stare at the ceiling, I smiled a secret smile at that notion, but it quickly faltered. I knew Melissa didn't want to have a doctor so far away, but it was obvious to us both that there was more than just a doctor-patient relationship budding. "I'm a piece of shit."
Referring a patient out to another doctor specifically so I could date her... while I wasn't doing anything unethical, it was still extremely taboo. If anyone at the hospital found out, I'd be facing stigma backlash for the rest of my career here. It wouldn't go in my file, but it would still follow me.
Dr. Sahper was a wonderful Pulmonologist, head over heels above