Page 30 of Drake Eternal

Then, she turned on her heel and stormed down the hallway.

I watched her disappear and then closed the door, glad that our little confrontation was over.

I sat behind my desk and ran my hands through my hair, scrubbing my face like I was washing to get off her dirt.

She was crazy.

She was also very smart and competent as a surgeon, and we were in dire need of her skills right now, so I didn’t want Michael to fire her — not until we had a replacement. The last thing I wanted was for my stupid petty drama to affect the hospital and patients. Sam needed to grow up and just knuckle down and forget about it. She still had Paul under her thumb despite no longer being his supervisor, so I didn’t know what her problem was other than embarrassment that she was discovered breaking the ethics rules.

So, I didn’t say anything to Michael when he called me into his office to discuss a particularly difficult case we had before us.

I went to his office and sat across from him, waiting for him to get off the phone. When he finally did, he closed his laptop and turned to face me, his arms folded.

“Tell me.”

“Tell you what?”

He raised his eyebrows. “What has Sam done now? Your cheeks are flushed.”

I exhaled heavily. “She said I’d get what was coming to me.”

“That is a threat. Tell me exactly what she said. All of it.”

I took in a deep breath and tried to remember what happened — everything in order and in detail.

“This morning, I went into the cafeteria to get breakfast. Sam was there with Paul, so I paid for my food and left the cafeteria so I could avoid them. She followed me to my office and confronted me. She informed me that she filed a complaint against me. I told her she was lying about it and that I never harassed her or had a relationship with her when she was a resident, and I was her supervisor. She made a threat towards me. Her exact words were ‘You’ll get what’s coming to you.’ When I asked if that was a threat, she said it was a promise.”

Michael shook his head. Then, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

I waited, frowning. “What are you doing?”

He held up his finger to stop me. “Hello, George? This is Michael. I want to proceed with the matter we spoke about earlier. Yes, unfortunately, it’s come to a head. I need you as soon as possible. Tomorrow, if you can get here by then. If not, on Monday would be great.”

He listened and then nodded, smiling. “Great. So glad I have such good reliable friends to take advantage of whenever I need them.” He laughed. Then, he became serious again. “Thank you once again. See you soon.”

He hung up and then turned to me with a smile on his face. “George Atieno is on his way. He said he had to pack a bag and he would be here tomorrow.”

“You’re going to fire her?”

“Consider it done. I’ll call her in when you leave and break the good news.” He made a slashing motion with his hand across his neck. “She’s gone. I’ve had enough of her bullshit.”

I gritted my teeth, unsure that I wanted her fired because of me. I worried it would make her even angrier and blame me for it. I worried that she might decide to get back at me in some way that I couldn’t anticipate.

That was the last thing I wanted.

“Are you sure? I’m worried she’ll retaliate against me and or the hospital.”

“Don’t worry. She’s a trifle. I won’t have medical staff jeopardizing the safe and effective functioning of the hospital and the wellbeing of our patients. I could have fired her for the inappropriate relationship with her resident alone but held off. It was a mistake. Go. Don’t give it another thought. We have patients to see and a hospital neurosurgery department to run.”

I shrugged and exhaled. “Okay. Thanks for having my back.”

“Always,” Michael said and nodded.

I left his office and went back to my own, still not sure that it was the right move, but Michael was set on it. It would be nice not to have to worry about Sam, but at the same time, I didn’t want to create an enemy.

I realized I already had. I didn’t want to make her a worse enemy.

I tried to focus for the rest of the day, but it wasn’t easy. On my way to the break room for a second cup of coffee, I saw Sam walking down the hallway towards the elevators.

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