She had two days to prepare.
She’d been so nervous at the first evaluatory panel. So frightened of misstepping, of causing Victoria real harm. Sitting outside waiting, clutching her folder, frightened as a schoolchild.
Today, Anna stood outside of the conference room, calm and poised. She did not flip through her portfolio, did not pace the floor, did not sit and bite her thumbnails. She simply waited.
Elaine poked her head out of the door. “Dr. Monroe, please join us now.”
Anna strode confidently into the room and stood before the panel.The usual suspects.Elaine, Steve Sundstrom, MarcusKinkade, and Heather from HR. Elaine and Steve were regarding her warily; Heather blandly; and Marcus?
Well, he was smug, like a man who deserved a swift kick in the teeth. Anna bolted a pleasant smile onto her face and resisted the urge to bring her portfolio down on his head, Anne of Green Gables style. Redheaded like Anne Shirley she might be, but Marcus Kinkade was no Gilbert Blythe.
Ew.
“Thank you for joining us again, Dr. Monroe.” Elaine was again heading up the proceedings. “We appreciate you making the time today.”
“You’re very welcome.” Anna dipped her head in a gracious nod.
“Dr. Monroe is officially discharging Dr. Victoria Ellis from her care,” Elaine announced to the panel. “She’s turning the case over to Dr. Cameron O’Shea, PsyD.”
Steve opened his mouth to say something, but was beaten to the punch by Marcus Kinkade. “Would this have anything to do with the fact that Dr. Monroe was seen kissing Dr. Ellis on hospital grounds?” The man looked positively diabolical with glee as he asked the question in his slimy, oily voice.
Elaine, Steve, and Anna all stared at him as if they’d just watched him step in dog poop. Even Heather from HR, who had been his silent little ally last time, had an incredulous look on her face. Anna gathered herself together.So. This is how you want to play? All right.
She had prepared well for this, anticipating that Kinkade would be a gross human being. Anna flipped open her portfolio and consulted her notes. “As we discussed in our previous meeting, Dr. Victoria Ellis lost a patient during what should have been a routine coronary artery bypass surgery. This, coupled with being aggressively confronted by a patient’s family, triggered flashbacks to a previous patient loss Dr. Elliswas still unable to cope with fully.” Anna took a deep breath. “The previous loss, occurring following another routine CABG procedure, was a patient with whom Dr. Ellis had a personal connection; this connection was known only to the patient and to Dr. Ellis.”
Elaine sat up very straight, surprised. “What? Why didn’t she disclose this?”
“That, she did not tell me,” Anna admitted. “But the patient had been a close childhood acquaintance, so the loss was catastrophic, and she didn’t deal with it. The second loss and subsequent confrontation compounded the issues.”
“In other words, she cracked up,” Kinkade said, twirling his ink pen between his fingers.
Anna leveled her best imitation of Victoria’s haughtiest Ice Queen stare at him. “Mr. Kinkade, I find the language you use about a hospital employee’s mental state inappropriate and, frankly, surprising given that there’s a representative from Human Resources in this room with us.” She turned her gaze onto Heather the Flunky, who said nothing, but had the grace to look abashed.
Kinkade rolled his eyes. “Fine. Go on.”
She was tempted to demand an apology from him, but decided he wasn’t worth the energy. Reviewing her notes again, Anna went on. “The hospital made an official referral for Dr. Ellis to engage in therapy with the Staff Wellness team. That indicates real concern from the hospital that there was a mental health issue at play.” She took a deep breath. “Dr. Ellis continued to have public, documented episodes of instability, each of which came accompanied by a caveat that the behavior being witnessed was deeply out of character based on what the reporters knew of Dr. Ellis’ professional capacity and general personality." Anna closed her portfolio. “Based on my own observations, I wouldhave concluded that Dr. Ellis was coping with undiagnosed and untreated Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.”
“This reflects what Dr. O’Shea has reported to us,” Elaine said, nodding. “With Dr. Ellis’ permission, based on his own observations and Dr. Monroe’s file, we can advise that he has officially entered this diagnosis into the record.”
“A hospital employee cannot be released from employment simply because they have a diagnosed mental issue,” Anna informed the board, not looking at any specific person. “And there must be a paper trail documenting any reasonable offenses that could result in termination. Dr. Ellis’ record is, to the best of my knowledge, clean in this regard.” Now, she did glance at Heather the Flunky out of the corner of her eyes, and saw the woman silently nodding in agreement.
But she could see Marcus Kinkade on the verge of exploding as he tried to catch Heather’s eye. When that failed, he turned his focus back to Anna, eyes ablaze with thwarted fury. “Fraternization is against hospital policy.”
“On hospital grounds, yes,” Anna conceded. “We have not engaged in fraternization on hospital grounds.”
“No? I remind you that the two of you were seen kissing in a stairwell?” Kinkade sneered, raising one skeptical eyebrow.
“Dr. Ellis was in the midst of a mental episode following the traumatic loss of a critical patient during a mass casualty event,” Anna explained, her voice firm, keeping her cool with ease. “She behaved uncharacteristically. Lapses of judgment are a common effect of CPTSD.” She lifted her chin. “I broke off the kiss, I removed myself from the area, and within days I had been able to transfer her care to Dr. O’Shea. I did not see her as a patient again after the kiss incident. We have not fraternized on hospital grounds.”
They didn’t need to know about the one giggly kiss in her office before everything had gone so spectacularly wrong. Foronce, Anna was able to lie with a straight face; this was too important not to.
Elaine flipped her portfolio shut. “Well, I’d say that’s all questions answered,” she announced, clearly and firmly bringing the meeting to an end even as Kinkade sputtered in rage. “Dr. Monroe, I want to thank you for your time and patience today. Your work with Dr. Ellis has been invaluable, and your ability to manage a dicey ethical situation when things began to get off-track is impressive.” She looked at each of the panel members, some more coolly than others. “I believe Dr. Ellis can be provisionally cleared and released from comprehensive oversight. I would suggest that she continue her therapeutic work with Dr. O’Shea, and that this panel meet monthly for progress updates…but my conclusion is that within six months, we can clear her entirely.”
“Wait, but,” Kinkade tried.
Steve Sundstrom heaved a mighty sigh and rolled his eyes. “Marcus, shut up.”
To everyone’s gratification, the man did.
