Malpractice

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With a toss of her coal black hair Rachel hung the phone up harder than she meant. There was no doubt she loved her husband Julian, and she knew he loved her, but there were times when he could be the meanest and most unreasonable person she had ever known. This had been one of those moments.

She thought she had everyone’s best interest at heart when she purchased the new van. It was just right for her and their son Seth, as well as, any future children she and Julian would have. The car dealership had been generous with her trade-in and had sold the van to her at below invoice price. Or, at least, that was what the salesman had told her. Julian was not convinced she had made the best decision. She was not sure he was upset so much with her choice as he was with the fact she had bought the vehicle while he was away on business in the Netherlands. This just reinforced her suspicions he felt superior to her when it came to financial matters.

It was not the first time he had become angry at something she had bought. Sometimes he could be the tightest man with his money, while on other occasions he acted as if he would freely give his last dime to anyone who needed it. Rachel knew his outburst at her was more the result of the day he was having than it was what she bought. Also, she knew other people were present when he was speaking with her. This always brought out the macho man in him as opposed to the tender husband who shared her bed. It was as if he had to reinforce the perception of anyone listening that he was the boss and was always in charge, even with his wife five thousand miles away.

He was so upset over her buying the van she decided to not tell him it included heated leather seats, GPS navigation, a V-8 engine, luggage rack, and a complete entertainment center in the rear. For a second she wished he would just get laid so it would calm him down. The thought of wanting her husband to cheat brought a smile to her face. Most wives would be dismayed to think in such a manner. For her it was a simple matter of a reality check. She had no doubt as to what he was doing as he traversed the world for his company. On more than one occasion she had found intimate women’s apparel left in his travel bag when he had returned from overseas. She imagined he had women waiting in every city who were willing to frolic in carnal and uninhibited pleasure with a man of his fortune and stature. If this helped him expend some of his insatiable energy and make him more of a nurturing and caring husband when he returned home, Rachel had no objections to his philandering. At least when he was home he only had eyes for her. All she wanted was for him to be careful and not bring her some dreaded disease.

Besides, it was not as if she was a saint. She had never taken the plunge into an affair, but she had been tempted many times. The closest she had come was on one occasion with a temporary helper the pool cleaning company had sent over one day last summer. From the instant he removed his shirt she knew he was going to be trouble. It was not long before they were in her bedroom entwined in each other’s arms. She had loosened his belt and was about to unzip his pants when Seth’s cries for his mommy brought her back to reality. Leaving the well-tanned muscled hunk lying on her bed she rushed to her son’s room to find him struggling to breathe from an asthma attack. The rest of the afternoon was spent nursing her son while the pool cleaner quickly finished his work and quietly left before Julian drove up into the driveway.

Still stinging from the tongue lashing Julian had given her over the purchase of the van she now turned her attention to preparing a breakfast for her and her son. When Seth joined her at the table she noticed he was breathing deeply. As she felt his brow for any sign of fever she asked, “Is your chest hurting?” He coughed the familiar dry wheeze and replied, “A little.” She picked the inhaler from the counter and gave it to him. “Take this before you eat,” she ordered. They ate in silence as Rachel could not help but notice how pale her son looked. She made a mental note to keep an eye on him.

After breakfast Seth did not feel like going outside to play so he went to his bedroom while Rachel cleaned the dishes. She heard the music from the computer in the den announcing she had mail. Drying her hands she went to the desktop and opened her email. It was from Julian. He was letting her know he was about to board his plane for the eleven hours trip home. During the flight he was going to try and sleep so he would feel refreshed when he got home to her and Seth. Knowing he cared enough to email her before his flight made Rachel feel warm and cozy until she reached the end of his message. “Now, look, I don’t want to flog a dead horse, but please don’t spend any more money. I know it’s never been a problem but we can’t go around throwing it on every little whim we have. We’ll talk more about this when I get home.” Rachel bit her lower lip as she felt the anger grow within her. She slammed the “delete” button hard enough to break a nail as she cursed to herself. How dare he refer to her van as a “little whim!” Now she hoped his plane would develop mechanical trouble and would have to land on some remote island in the middle of the Atlantic. It would be okay with her if he was stranded there. A couple of months would be fine.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Seth wheezing, “Mommy!” She turned to find him with his eyes bulging in near panic and his chest heaving as he struggled to breathe. With as much calm as she could muster, she took him to the kitchen and found his inhaler. Usually the medicine would cause the attack to subside in a few minutes, but this time Rachel could not tell if it was working. With great difficulty the young boy panted, “Mommy, I don’t feel good.”

Breathing deeply to calm her nerves she poured out the liquid dosage for a four-year old child. She knew this was strong medicine and was only to be given when the inhaler did not work. This was one of those times. The look on his face and the heaving of his chest gave her an uneasy feeling. He had severe attacks in the past and this was definitely going to be one of the worst. Having decided she had done all she could do, she grabbed their coats and carried him to the van. After quickly buckling him into his car seat she jumped in behind the wheel and backed out of the driveway. Half watching the traffic and half watching her son through the rearview mirror, she sped toward Southside Hospital.

They had not traveled very far when her husband’s words came back to haunt her, “Please don’t spend any more money.” Surely he could not object to her taking their only son to the hospital. After all, this was an emergency. But she had felt Julian’s wrath before when she was convinced what she was doing was important and he saw it completely different. “Don’t spend any more money,” rang in her head. A cold chill spread down her spine as she remembered him complaining about their health insurance before he left for the Netherlands. As far as she could recall, he had said their premiums had skyrocketed and the benefits had been greatly reduced. She clearly remembered his ranting and raving over the latest doctor bill. What would be his reaction to her taking Seth to the hospital and spending even more money after she had already made him mad by buying a new van?

But this was their son. He was sick. How could Julian be anything but relieved to find her acting as any responsible parent would? “Don’t spend any more money,” filtered through her thoughts again. But, what if he really did not need to go to a hospital? What if after being admitted to the emergency room the medicine she had given him took effect? Then the doctor would send them home with only a bill to be paid. A bill that would give Julian a reason to tell her how irresponsible she was with money and how she never listened to anything he had to say. “Don’t spend any more money,” rang loud and clear.

Her son was sick. She could tell by looking at him through the mirror he had not improved. In fact, it appeared his breathing was even more labored. He needed medical attention and she was determined to get it for him no matter the consequences. “Don’t spend any more money,” swirled in her head again. She was well aware of the prenuptial agreement she had signed. At the time she was so in love with Julian she would have agreed to anything. Their marriage had to last ten years before she was entitled to half of his fortune. A divorce before then and she would forfeit the custody of any children and receive a mere $1,000 a month in alimony. Among the different legal reasons granted to Julian in the agreement for a divorce was the item “irreconcilable differences resulting from finances.” This gave him complete control over the money and left her at his mercy. “Don’t spend any more money.” Could she afford to take a chance at spending unnecessarily and pushing her marriage to the breaking point? Two years from now on their tenth wedding anniversary it would no longer matter. But at this point in her life she had given and overlooked too much to have it all taken away because she simply misdiagnosed her son’s condition.

As she pulled the van into the parking lot at Southside Hospital she made her decision. Unhooking her son from his seat, she rushed into the emergency room and headed to the nurse’s station.

The nurse behind the desk looked up to see the mother enter carrying a young boy. “Yes, ma’am, what’s wrong?” she asked as she heard the boy wheezing as he breathed.

“I need to see a doctor for my son,” Rachel responded as she placed Seth in the seat in front of the desk. “But first, I need to know if this is a free hospital.”

“A free hospital?” asked the surprised nurse. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“I need for my son to be treated but I can’t pay anything,” explained Rachel.

“Well, if you don’t have any money we do have programs that will help,” offered the nurse. “The main thing is to get your son help. What’s wrong with him?”

“Look, I’m in a hurry,” blurted Rachel. “Do you know of any hospitals that will treat him for free?”

“I’m not sure…” pondered the nurse.

“Please, think hard,” begged Rachel. “I’ve got to get him help but I can’t pay anything.”

“I believe Saint Michael’s on the north side might,” offered the concerned nurse. “Are you sure you want to wait that…”

“Thank you,” shouted Rachel as she gathered Seth into her arms and ran back to her van.

“Ma’am we’ll be glad to check him!” yelled the nurse as Rachel disappeared out the emergency room door.

The tires on the van made a slight squealing sound as she sped out of the parking lot and headed north. She found herself counting Seth’s breaths to make sure he was still breathing. It was not hard to do as his wheezing had become louder as he had developed a rattling sound in his chest. Rachel tried to take deep breaths herself to calm her nerves. Her son was becoming gravely ill and she was becoming desperate to get him help.

As she was held up at a stop light Julian’s words work their way back into her head, “Don’t spend any more money.” Not only was she becoming frantic over her son’s condition, but she was becoming angry at the callousness of her husband. She knew if he was here with her then money would be no problem. It was only because he was not there to control the situation was money even mentioned. By believing she could not make any worthwhile financial decisions on her own he was keeping her under his thumb. He was a control freak at work and now he was bent on controlling her every move. She was convinced it had now started with money and before long would escalate into every facet of her life. “Don’t spend any more money.” How much more could she take?

It seemed like forever but she finally pulled the van into the emergency room parking lot at Saint Michael’s hospital. As she carried Seth through to the waiting nurse she could see he was as pale and sickly looking as she had ever seen him.

“My son is having a severe asthma attack!” she yelled as soon as she came through the door.

“Put him here,” urged the nurse as she rolled a bed over to her.

“Is this a free hospital?” asked Rachel as she clung to her son.

“What?!?”

“I said is this a free hospital?” she repeated. “I can’t pay any money.”

“Look, lady, that’s the last thing you should worry about if your son’s sick,” declared the astonished nurse.

“You don’t understand. I’ve got to find a free hospital!” bellowed Rachel in near hysteria.

“If you can’t pay we can take care of it,” offered the nurse.

“That’s not what I need!” yelled Rachel. “I need a free hospital. Where can I find one?”

“Well, I think the Rainey clinic is free,” replied the still bewildered nurse.

“Where is it?”

“It’s over in the Freeburn Research Park,” directed the nurse.

“Thank you,” offered Rachel as she turned and rushed back outside carrying her ill son. The nurse came running out after her and yelled as Rachel climbed into the van, “Lady, let us at least look at him. He doesn’t look good!”

Ignoring the nurse she spun the van’s tires as she pulled out onto the street and headed back south. As she weaved in and out of traffic she now knew she was racing against time. Seth’s breathing was even more labored and he was barely responding to anything she said. As she did her best to remain calm and concentrate on her driving, she kept thinking of her husband’s words to her: “Don’t spend anymore money.” Why had he not been here with her when she needed him the most? She knew his job overseas was important, but she and Seth were important, too. How could he do this to her? How could he do this to his son?

The Freeburn Research Park was not too far from Southside Hospital. Why did the nurse at Southside send her all the way across town when Rainey clinic was just down the street? Rachel shook her head at the thought of the nurse’s incompetence. No wonder she could not find the help she needed. That was the problem with modern health care: No one was willing to go out of their way to help. “Don’t spend anymore money,” rang in her head again as she swerved into the driveway of the Rainey clinic.

The parking lot was eerily empty of cars. As Rachel jumped out of the van and ran to the door she noticed the lights were turned down low inside the building. She stopped dead in her tracks at the door as she stared in horror at the sign. The clinic was closed. Silently cursing, she ran back to the van and gunned the engine as she made her way back onto the highway.

Now was Seth not only wheezing but he was gasping at the end of each breath. Rachel slapped the top of her head as she heard the words again, “Don’t spend anymore money.” With her closed fist she punched the steering wheel and shouted, “To hell with you, Julian! And to hell with all your money!!”

Southside Hospital loomed just ahead. She had made up her mind. Her son was going to get the treatment he needed no matter what the cost was or how if affected her marriage. If Julian could not understand then she did not want to be married to him anymore. There was more to life besides money. She was no longer going to let a price tag be placed on her son’s health.

As she pulled the van up to the entrance of the emergency room she glanced in the rearview mirror at her son. His eyes rolled back into his head. She no longer heard him wheezing. He was not breathing. In panic she ran into the hospital yelling for help.

Paramedics wheeled Seth into a room as they desperately worked on him. Rachel followed them until she was stopped by the hospital’s patient advocate.

“Are you the mother?” asked the advocate.

“Yes, I am,” cried Rachel. “I want to be with my son.”

“Please, ma’am, he’s in good hands,” consoled the advocate. “The doctor needs to concentrate on your son and they can’t be distracted by anyone else in the room.”

“What am I to do?” sobbed Rachel. “He can’t die!!”

“He’s not gong to if the doctors can help it,” offered the advocate. “Please come with me. The nurse needs to get some information from you.”

Rachel met with the nurse and filled out all the necessary forms. Seth’s regular pediatrician was out of town but his partner was on call and had been summoned. She had the nurse call Julian’s office and leave a message. They said they would contact him as soon as his plane landed and would have a car with a driver waiting for him so he could come directly to the hospital.

It seemed like hours had gone by as Rachel waited with all the other people in the family room. Finally, the doctor came in and took her to a nearby conference room.

“How is he?” asked Rachel once the door was closed.

“He’s a sick little boy,” replied the doctor. “At this point we have him stable, but we don’t know how severe the trauma is.”

Rachel grabbed her mouth with her hand and cried, “Is he going to live?”

“To be honest, I don’t know,” revealed the doctor. “We had to perform a tracheotomy to get him breathing again. He’s on a ventilator to make it easier for him. Now we’re in the process of a tracheostomy to remove fluid from his lungs.”

Rachel slowly sunk down into her seat as the seriousness of her son’s condition settled upon her. The doctor continued, “During the asthma attack his oxygen level decreased to a dangerous level as indicated by his ‘barrel chest’ syndrome. In other words, his lungs were working so hard to get oxygen they increased dramatically in size. Of course, this put a tremendous strain on his little heart as it tried to compensate for the lack of oxygen.”

“Can I go talk to him?” sobbed Rachel. “I want to see him.”

“You can see him in a little while, but he’s not going to be able to speak,” offered the doctor. “In fact, we’ve placed him in a medical coma.”

“Why?”

“The low oxygen level, not to mention how he stopped breathing when you first arrived, poses the very real danger of edema, or the swelling of the brain,” explained the doctor, “Keeping him in a coma will hopefully avert that from happening.”

Rachel buried her face in her hands as she tried to control her emotions. “My son’s going to be retarded!” she wailed.

“It’s premature to say whether there’s permanent brain impairment,” explained the doctor. “We’ll know more in the days ahead. The main thing is to keep him alive so we can get to that point.”

Rachel bit her lower lip and shook her head as she looked at the ceiling.

“I need to ask you something,” said the doctor after a moment of reflection. All she could do was nod her head. “It appears to me the asthma attack started earlier today. Why did you wait so long to get him help?”

“I tried doctor. I really tried,” cried Rachel as she shook with emotion. “No one would help me.”

“No one would help you?” asked the doctor in disbelief. “That’s difficult to believe.”

“It’s true doctor,” reasserted Rachel. “Nobody would give me the help I needed.”

“Well, we’re going to have to look into that,” declared the doctor. “But in the meantime, come with me and you can see your son.”

Rachel dried her eyes as she silently sat beside her son’s bed. The only sound in the room was the hissing of the life-support machine as the piston pushed air into his lungs. It was early evening and there had been no change in his condition. In fact, the doctor had told her not expect much for a few days, if then. Her attention was diverted from her son when the door swung open and in walked her husband, Julian. She rushed to his arms and they held each other as he tried to comfort her.

After a few moments she appraised him on all the doctor had said. He held his son’s hand for awhile and then called the nurse’s station and asked to speak with the attending physician. In an hour or so the doctor was available and Julian stepped out into the hall to speak with him.

“You’re son is gravely ill,” declared the doctor.

“How did this happen?” demanded an angry Julian. “I mean what kind of incompetent people are running this hospital?”

“Your son is getting the best care we can provide,” replied the doctor in defense.

“Best care?!?” mocked Julian. “My son’s lying in there with all types of hoses and machines hooked to him and you call that the ‘best care’?”

“Those ‘hoses’ and ‘machines’ are saving his life,” offered the doctor. “You think we’re only doing this because we can?”

“No, I just want to know why it had to come to this,” demanded Julian. “He’s had asthma all his life and it’s never been this bad. Why did you let it go this far?”

“Why did we let it go this far?” asked the doctor in amazement. “You’re asking the wrong person. You need to ask your wife.”

“My wife?!?” Julian shot back as he felt the blood rush up his neck. “She did her job. She brought our son here to you for help. And what good did that do? You almost let him die!”

“That is totally untrue and unfair,” declared the doctor as he tried to calm his own anger.

“Well, we’ll see, doctor. We’ll see,” reflected Julian as he lowered his voice. “But I want you to know one thing for certain: If Seth dies or doesn’t make a full recovery, I’m going to have my lawyers sue you and everybody at this hospital for malpractice! You can count on that!!”

The doctor stared at him and finally said, “You know, Julian, it’s true medical practice is a profession, but you can say the same thing about being a parent. In fact, it’s the most important profession I can think of. When we screw up in medicine we call it ‘malpractice.’ What do you call it when a parent screws up?”

“The only mistake my wife’s made was to trust you guys,” declared Julian.

“Well, I tell you what I’m going to do,” offered the doctor. “I’m going to gather my staff and the hospital administrator together and we’re going to review why it took so long for your wife to bring your sick son to the hospital. If we all agree then we’re going to let the Department of Social Services decide who’s really guilty of malpractice. If they find negligence, then for the safety of your son, they’re going to assume custody.”

“You just go ahead and play your little games,” smirked Julian. “There’ll be hell to pay.”

“In the meantime, this hospital and I are going to do everything possible to keep your son alive and nurse him back to a healthy life,” declared the doctor. “Why don’t you join your wife and, if nothing else, you two pray together for a miracle. We all could use one.”

Rachel watched as her husband came back into the room and sat down beside her. He took her hand and gently gave it a kiss.

“What did the doctor say?”

“Oh, these people have no clue,” he replied in disgust. “They’re so busy trying to cover their own ass they can’t see the whole picture. I have to put up with people like them everyday at work and now I have to put up with them here.”

“Julian, there is one thing I need to tell you,” offered Rachel as she gazed into her husband’s eyes.

“What is it?”

“I’m pregnant,” she smiled.

“Oh, Rachel,” beamed her husband. “When did you find out?”

“Right after you left for the Netherlands,” she replied. “I wanted to wait and tell you in person.”

“You make me the happiest man alive,” he cried as he hugged his wife. After a moment he said, “So, that’s why you bought the van.”

“I knew with two children we’d need something bigger and better,” sobbed Rachel. “Then you frightened me when you got all upset about it.”

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry,” comforted Julian. “It was a rough day at work. I should’ve trusted you. I should’ve kept my mouth shut.”

“I just try so hard to make you and Seth happy,” sniffled Rachel. “I want to be a good wife for you and a good mother to our children.”

“You are, sweetheart. You are,” smiled Julian. “I’m a lucky man. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

“That makes me feel so much better,” breathed a relieved Rachel.

“And I’ll tell you one more thing,” offered Julian.

“What?”

“Seth and the new baby are lucky, too,” declared Julian. “They truly are. They have the best mother a child could want.”

THE END

Copyright ©2006 by Jerry W. Crews