Sienna smiles. “Lawyer, honey, let me talk to them. I don’t remember a damn thing.”
The two cops grin, no doubt convinced they can prove she’s lying but from the minutia in my client’s face, I know she’s telling the truth.
So, I step back and open my arms theatrically to allow the two to enter. They won’t get shit and like I said, even if they do, nothing will be admissible.
The older guy opens a notebook as if trying to formulate a question. “You said you don’t remember? What’s the last thing youdoremember?”
“Getting brought here in the ambulance.” Sienna blinks twice, her pretty face full of innocence.
“Before that?”
She scrunches up her nose. “Getting up this morning? Making coffee? I fed my cats? Do I even have cats?”
The woman officer steps in closer. “This is not a joke, Ms. Giles. People were hurt.”
“When?”
“The accident. Your accident.”
“I was in an accident? Well, shit. That explains why I’m in a hospital. Was anyone hurt?”
“We can’t go into it right now.”
“Well then, why did you bring it up? Mr. Lovely-suit? Can you be a dear? Find out if anyone was hurt in my accident.”
I put my hand in front of my face, nod, and cough to hold back my chuckle. “No one was hurt, only you. These guys are lying.”
The older guy glowers. “We’ll be waiting to arrest her as soon as she is released.”
I don’t like his attitude so make a little eye contact of my own. “You do and I’ll slap a lawsuit on you so fast you’ll get whiplash.”
They open their mouths to say more so I gentle it down. “Ms. Giles has suffered a concussion and obviously not in command of her faculties. You’re wasting your time. Plus, she’s not getting released any time soon.”
The assuredness of my tone makes them understand they could wait all night for nothing. “I’ll make sure to call you as soon as she is released. Please make sure you get a warrant for her tox results.”
They both know in a city the size of New York, the hospital could take days. Not done one-upping them, I add a parting shot. “If you even get a glance at her paperwork on the way out, I’ll make sure to file a suit. We take HIPAA laws very seriously in New York.”
“C’mon, Stan. Let’s go.” The young woman has the good sense to call it quits but the man hangs back.
“The captain…”
“I’m sure will understand. I’ll call him as soon as I get a handle on what went down last night.”
Obviously, no one’s getting much from Ms. Sienna Giles right now. Long blond lashes brush the tops of her cheeks, her chest heaves up and down, and she snores. With my client asleep and the cops out of my hair, I settle down and do some work on my laptop.
A couple hours later, Lilac opens the curtain, checks her patient’s vitals, and glances up at me. “How’s she been?”
I put my laptop aside, stretch, and stand. “Sleeping. Can you tell me anything about what happened?”
Lilac efficiently changes an IV bag hanging from a metal pole as she speaks. “I spoke with the ambulance driver before he left. Apparently, Sienna was speeding, careened against a few cars, and smashed into the side of a building. She bumped her head pretty badly. Worse yet, she was full of opioids and had a blood alcohol level of point fifteen. Poor thing. She’s in a shit load of trouble.”
It makes me wonder if Lilac’s in the habit of calling a lawyer for all her DUI’s. “How well do you know her?”
Blue eyes lower to her patient’s pillow. “Just what I read from the tabloids. It was all over the news a couple years ago. Her husband died in some plane crash, right? I can’t imagine.”
So that’s it.Lilac just got engaged to one of my poker buddies. She must’ve pictured herself in this woman’s shoes.
“Dr. Starbird?”
