Darkness Before Dawn (21 page)

“Have a seat,” he ordered, more than said.

Feeling like a student being sent to the principal’s office, Meg eased down into the
chair. Willis wasted no time with formalities.

“Nurse Richards I realize that your husband’s death was an incredible blow to you.
So over the past month or more I have been willing to cut you some slack.”

“Sir,” Meg cut in, “I have not checked in late once. And I haven’t missed a day due
to illness. I’ve even put in a bunch of overtime hours. You can look at the records.”

Willis waved his hand and sternly continued, “Your hours are not the issue; it is
your demeanor. I have a stack of complaints here about your attitude. In many cases,
your bedside manner had been horrible. As you’ve done your duties, which you’ve done
well, you have barely acknowledged patients and shown little regard for the feelings
of staff members. You’ve been sour at best and completely lacking in compassion at
worst.”

“Mr. Willis,” Meg said, but was once again cut off by the wave of his hand.

“I could dismiss you. You at least have earned being reassigned. But because of what
has happened in your life, I’m
going to give you another chance. I expect to see a dramatic change in attitude, and
if I don’t, then you need to be updating your résumé. Do you understand?”

She took a deep breath but didn’t retreat, “What have I done wrong?”

He shook his head. “We have a reputation at Springfield for offering a loving hand
and a compassionate voice with our care. That goes back decades. You might just act
like a machine at another hospital, but not here. There is no doubt you know your
job and rarely make professional mistakes, but your attitude is much different than
it was before you husband died. We can’t have that. Look at your job description.
Attitude is covered in great deal there. Do you understand?”

Biting her lip, Meg nodded.

“Nurse Richards, I’ve always had the utmost respect for you. Until your husband’s
death, you were the model nurse. I’d never seen anyone bond with patients the way
you did. They loved you because you cared so deeply about them. You were empathetic,
kind, and compassionate. You defined your profession as well as anyone I’d ever met.
What I want to see is that person back in this hospital. Can you do that for me?”

Meg responded with a tone that belied the hostility boiling inside, “I will try.”

“Thank you. You may go back to your station.”

Meg clenched her jaw as she walked out of the office and down the hallway. What did
he know about compassion? Had he shown any to her? He was demanding and aloof. No
one liked him. So why should she listen? After all, nurses were in short supply, she
could get another job, one where a boss would work with her and not demonize her.
No she couldn’t do that, either. She had vacation time coming that she was going to
need for the court battle. She had to hold on to this job until after the case was
over. That meant falling into the form Willis
wanted—no demanded—she adhere to. With this in mind, she forced a smile at two visitors
as she joined Heather at the station.

“What was that all about?” The other nurse asked.

“Compassion,” Meg replied.

“What?” Heather asked.

“It’s time for me to show compassion. Well, I won all kinds of awards acting in high
school, so looks like I will have to trot out my old stage skills again. I might not
feel like Florence Nightingale, but I guess I’m going to have to act like her.”

“I don’t get it,” Heather answered. “They should cut you some slack.

Meg noted a call light on. Not missing a chance to show off her fake smile, she announced,
“I’ll get that and the patient will love me.”

W
HAT
’
RE YOU DOING
?”

Jim Thomas glanced up from stuffing his bat and glove into his equipment bag and watched
the cute blonde walk up to his car. Once again fate was on his side and the script
for this day couldn’t have been any better if he’d written it himself. The temperature
was in the seventies, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and one of the most beautiful
girls in school was so close he could smell her perfume. Best of all, Candy had a
huge crush on him. It had always been that way and probably always would be that way.
She’d been following him since elementary school. Back then she’d been a scrawny moppet,
but now she was an explosive bombshell. What a transformation!

Yet, other than her being the shortest of his harem, Candy was really no different
than a dozen others. She’d do what he wanted, when he wanted it, and ask for nothing
in return. Why was that? He was good-looking, but no better than a half dozen other
boys. Yes, he was a star athlete and that carried weight. It seems girls loved guys
who scored touchdowns, dunked basketballs, and hit home runs, but there were other
guys who did that as well. And they didn’t have the luck with the girls he did. So
he figured the major reason Candy and
all the others flew to him like a moths to a flame had to be his money and connections.
He could take them to the nicest places, buy them anything they wanted, and get them
in to see people they never dreamed they’d meet. No one else at school could offer
those things. Best of all, once they tasted what only he could give them, it became
a drug and they constantly had to have more.

“Did you see my home run?” Thomas casually inquired as the blonde threw her arms around
him. The hug lasted long enough that a couple of the other players started howling
at them from the other side of the parking lot. Yet those catcalls didn’t dissuade
Candy from planting a kiss on his cheek.

As she broke away, her eyes met his. Those eyes told him all he needed to know. She’d
do anything he wanted. Sadly that easy-to-read invitation meant nothing on this night.

After zipping his bag, he looked back to the young woman admiring him as if he were
made of gold and diamonds. She had it bad. Leaning down, he drew her close to him.
But rather than kiss her, he asked, “I’ll ask you again, did you see the homer?” After
popping the question, he pulled back, leaving her standing with eyes closed and waiting
for a kiss that never happened.

“That’s mean,” she whined.

He shrugged, “About my question?”

“Yeah, I got here just as it was sailing out of the park. I couldn’t get here sooner
because we had a big day at the cleaners. It seemed everyone was bringing stuff in.”

“You didn’t miss much,” he assured her. “I did get three more hits and pitched a great
game, but that long ball was the key to our win. It’s what folks will be talking about
tonight and reading about in the paper tomorrow. You know being a hero isn’t easy.”

Tossing his bag in the passenger seat of his new Corvette, Thomas waved at a couple
of team members who were already driving away. They pointed at Candy and gave him
a thumbs-up.

“You guys have fun!” He called out as they roared by in the Ford pick-up. “And don’t
do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“That leaves things wide open,” the girl noted.

“Yep,” he laughed. “Just want them to have a good time when they’re celebrating the
victory. After all, we’re on top in our district.” Folding his arms across his chest,
he looked back toward the field. With that long ball, he’d proven once more that he
was king of Springfield High, and how he liked being king.

“What’s on your mind?” Candy asked, leaning into his body in what was likely an attempt
to have him turn his attention back to her.

“Just thinking about how unfair life is,” he said as he draped his arm over her shoulder.

She looked up at him, “Unfair? You think your life is unfair? You with the new car
and you with the home run! How could life be unfair?”

“Maybe you just don’t see the whole picture,” he explained. “My life pretty much sucks
right now. Everybody gets to go do what they want to do tonight but me. Ray and Cliff
are headed out to the lake to party. A bunch of the others are going out for pizza,
but I’ve got to go home.”

The blonde shook her head, “You’re going home? You never do that. How can the guys
have a lake party without you? You always supply the booze. What’s up?”

“Got that trial in two weeks,” he explained. “Dad’s being a real jerk about it. His
attorney gave him a list of questions and answers that I have to memorize. So I study
them every night just like I would if I was prepping for a history test. Except this
is worse. Dad puts me in a chair and drills me as if I’m in court. I can’t wait for
this mess to get over.”

His words had barely cleared his lips when Candy said, “She was in today.”

“Who’s she?” he asked.

“You know, the woman whose husband died in that accident.” She paused and looked back
toward the field. “I wish I could get that scene out of my head. I can still see him
trapped in that burning car.”

Thomas shot an angry look her way. “I don’t need to hear you or anyone else telling
me about that accident. I get that every night at home. I’m constantly having to relive
every detail. I don’t care how she feels, I’m the one with the real problem. The law
is going after me.”

“She probably lives with it every night too,” Candy noted while pulling away from
Thomas. She walked two steps toward the field before turning back. Rubbing her arms
as if she’d suddenly felt a chilling wind, she added, “You should have seen her. She
was cold and hard. Her words had a bite to them. She scares me. Does she scare you?”

Slamming the passenger door, Thomas stomped around the car to the driver’s door. After
throwing it open he slid in. For a few seconds Candy watched him through the windshield
before saying, “I figured your dad could fix it. I thought you wouldn’t have to go
to trial.”

He didn’t answer. Starting his red Corvette, he jammed it into drive and pulled out
of the parking lot leaving Candy standing alone and confused. He was sure his father
could fix it as well. That’s what the judge did; he fixed things. But for some reason
the old man couldn’t make this go away, and until it ended, it looked as if the king
of Springfield High would remain a prisoner in his own castle. Life just wasn’t fair.

I’
M GLAD YOU COULD MEET ME ON SUCH SHORT NOTICE
.”

Meg nodded as she took a seat on a bench beside Cheryl. It was cloudy and rain was
predicted for later in the night. So, except for two old men playing checkers on a
table a hundred yards away, the city park was empty. That’s probably why Cheryl chose
this place for their meeting.

“I take it you have something new on the case?” Meg asked.

The assistant district attorney shook her head. Leaning close, she whispered, “They’re
worried.”

“You mean the Thomas family?”

Her blue eyes sparkled as Cheryl answered, “The whole defense team. They’ve even put
out feelers to see if we can work out an agreement to avoid going to trial.”

“What do you mean not go to trial?”

“Unofficially, they’ve approached us with an offer. Jim Thomas will accept a guilty
plea in exchange for attending alcohol abuse classes, five years probation, a stiff
fine, and community service.”

“No jail time?” Meg asked, her tone clearly showing her disapproval.

“No,” Cheryl admitted, “he’d never spend a day in jail. But there is something else.
This deal also means you could find a lot of money in your bank account. They’re offering
a quarter of a million to make the case go away. I think you could probably double
that.”

Meg’s hands formed two fists, her blood boiled, and her heart raced. They thought
she could be bought! Toss a little money her way and they thought she’d just go away
and leave them alone! Who did they think they were?

A light mist was starting to fall, driving the checker players to their car. Yet as
one minute became two and two became three, Meg said nothing. As the silence dragged
on, the assistant district attorney leaned back into the bench and shoved her hands
into her pockets.

“Meg,” Cheryl finally chimed in, “you’ve got a kid coming in the near future and that
is lot of money. Let’s face it, you could use it. Steve’s life insurance barely paid
for his funeral.”

Meg clinched her jaw and shook her head.

“You have to carefully consider it,” Cheryl said. “This means security. And there
is no guarantee that we will win. Even if he is found guilty, Thomas might even get
less punishment than what is in this deal we’ve been offered.”

Pushing off the bench, Meg stood facing the north wind. The mist was now thicker and
within seconds her face was moist and cold. They were trying to buy her off! The mere
fact Judge Thomas thought she would cave for cash was a cutting insult. Steve’s life
and death could never be erased with money.

Whirling around, she stared at Cheryl, “I suppose you think this is a good deal.”

The assistant district attorney shrugged. Standing, she walked over to Meg, pulled
her hands from her coat pockets and placed them on the hurting woman’s shoulders.
“It is a good deal. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t.”

Meg hadn’t felt this alone since the night Steve had been killed. Even the one woman
once driven in an effort to get justice had now seemingly deserted her.

“What can I do?” Meg coldly asked.

“You can do what you want to do.”

“I can’t spend the rest of my life knowing I can be bought.”

Cheryl nodded. “So you want to reject the deal and move on with the case?”

“I do.” Meg’s reply was resolute. “But what about you?”

“I never settle,” she smiled.

Stepping forward, Cheryl took Meg into her arms. In an instant, the two had been transformed
from allies to friends.

“You’re giving up a lot,” the assistant district attorney said as she broke the embrace.
“There is nothing guaranteed if we do it our way. And there won’t be any money for
you even if we win.”

“I can’t be bought!”

Cheryl smiled, walked over to the bench, and retrieved her briefcase. Looking back
to Meg, she said, “Webb Jones bet me you’d take the deal. I love it when I’m right
and he’s wrong.”