Chapter 4

The family meeting that afternoon turned out to be way messier than they'd let on.

An elderly patient wasn't recovering well after surgery, and his family was crowding outside the office door, loudly accusing the hospital of dodging responsibility.

When Mandy brought me over, she made sure to speak extra loudly on purpose.

"Dr. Linwood is here. Got questions? Just ask her—she's our new consultant."

They immediately crowded around me.

"Are you the one in charge?"

"My dad was fine yesterday—why are you saying he needs more observation today?"

"Are you just trying to squeeze more money out of us?"

Mandy hung back, looking like she was just waiting for the drama to unfold.

I didn't back down.

"Who's the immediate family member?" I asked.

A middle-aged man raised his hand. "I'm his son."

"Come with me to the office. The rest of you, clear the doorway," I said.

He glared at me. "You trying to pull a fast one on me by shutting the door?"

"We'll talk with the door open, and you can record it if you want," I replied.

He looked a bit stunned for a second.

I set the patient's condition report on the table.

"First off, your father's not in any immediate danger. Second, the reason for keeping him under observation was already written out by the doctor on duty yesterday. Third, I've asked finance to print the bill for you right now," I said.

Their tone softened a bit.

"Then why didn't anyone explain this to us?" they asked.

I looked at Mandy. "Who was in charge of telling the family yesterday?"

Mandy's face went pale. "Admin was just helping out."

I asked the head nurse.

The head nurse paused, looking uncertain. "The notification slip was given to the admin team yesterday."

The patient's family immediately turned to Mandy.

"You didn't even tell us, and you just left us freaking out for nothing?" one of them snapped.

Mandy looked flustered.

"Yesterday was crazy, I might've missed it," she stammered.

"If you missed it, just admit it. Don't try to pin it on the doctors," I said.

The middle-aged man slammed his hand on the table.

"You guys owe us an explanation!" he demanded.

I nodded. "You'll get your answer."

I turned to the head nurse. "Update the communication log, give the family a full breakdown of the charges, and I want a written explanation about the admin's missed notification on my desk before the end of today."

Mandy clenched her jaw. "Dr. Linwood, are you just pinning everything on me?"

I looked at her. "Weren't you just worried about the patient's safety? Well, now the patient's safety is in your hands."

Everyone in the crowd turned to look at her.

The patient's family scoffed.

"So it was you guys who didn't even bother to tell us, and you just let us make a scene for nothing," one of them said.

Mandy's face turned bright red.

After the conversation ended, she just stood there in the hallway, silent.

I gave her a nudge. "Apologize."

She glanced at Victor.

Victor looked away.

Mandy clenched her jaw. "Dr. Linwood, I'm sorry."

"Louder," I said.

Her voice tightened. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have held things up for you."

The hallway went quiet for a couple of seconds.

Someone started clapping softly.

Michael stood at the edge of the crowd, smiling at me.

Just as I was about to head back to my office, my phone buzzed with a message.

It was a photo from Emily.

Nina was sitting on her couch, hugging a stuffed animal.

The message read, [Lauren, Nina said she wants to stay over tonight. Hope you don't mind.]

I called Andrew right away.

He picked up almost instantly.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Is Nina at Emily's place?" I asked.

He paused for a moment. "Nina was throwing a tantrum, so Emily took her over there for now."

"Go pick her up right now."

"I'm in a meeting."

"Then I'll call the cops and say my kid's been taken by someone who isn't her legal guardian."

His voice went cold. "Lauren, don't make a scene."

"You were the ones who acted like I didn't even exist."

He went quiet on the other end.

I said, "In thirty minutes, I expect my daughter at Hillcrest Villa."

"What if she's not there?"

"You'll find out."

*****

When I got back to Hillcrest Villa, Nina was already in the living room.

Emily was there too.

She was sitting on the couch, her eyes red.

Andrew was standing by the window, looking pissed.

As soon as I walked in, Andrew's mother started yelling at me.

"Lauren, do you have any shame? Threatening to call the cops over something as trivial as where your kid sleeps?"

"Trivial?" I shot back.

I strode right up to Nina. "Nina, who gave you permission to spend the night at Emily's place?"

Nina instantly ducked behind Emily. "I just wanted to go."

"How old are you, Nina?" I pressed.

Nina kept quiet, refusing to answer.

"You're ten years old. You're still a kid—not an adult," I said.

Emily spoke softly, "Lauren, Nina just wanted to be somewhere she felt happy. I wasn't trying to cause any trouble."

I looked at her. "Ms. Shaw, you're overstepping."

She bit her lip. "I just feel bad for the kid."

"Then you should get your own kid," I said.

Andrew spoke up. "Lauren."

I turned to him. "She doesn't have any kids, does she?"

Emily's face went pale.

Andrew's mother snapped, "You always hit people where it hurts. That's so mean."

I shot back, "And she's so well-mannered, targeting my daughter?"

Tears welled up in Emily's eyes.

"I know you can't stand me, but Nina's innocent," she said.

I said, "Of course she's innocent. That's exactly why I can't let you teach her to hate her own mom."

Nina broke down crying. "I didn't. You're the one who's changed!"

I crouched down in front of her, looking her in the eye. "Yeah, I have changed.

"Before, whenever you cried, I'd always back down. But that's not happening anymore."