Page 39 of Trusting Trey
I grinned widely. “Thank you, my boyfriend bought it for me for Christmas.”
“Wow,” she said, her hand to her chest. “What a boyfriend. You should hold onto him.”
I nodded, doubt trying to creep into my head, but I pushed it out. “Don’t worry, I plan to. He’s special to a lot of people and he deserves someone to stand up for him.”
I clamped my lips closed and she looked at me oddly, but didn’t question my statement. We came to a hallway and she pointed down it.
“Mr. Livingston is three doors down on the right. You’ll see his secretary when you get there.” She put her hand on my shoulder and patted. “Good luck.”
She departed toward the cafeteria and I rolled down the hallway, found the right office, and rolled in. There was a secretary at the desk, as she said there would be. She was an older woman with long, silver hair pulled back in a braid. Her fingers paused on the keyboard when she saw me.
“Hello, can I help you with something?” she asked as I wheeled the rest of the way to her.
“Yes, hi, my name is Allison and I would like to speak with Mr. Livingston. Is he in?” I asked, praying that my trip here wasn’t a wasted one.
She frowned. “No, I’m sorry he’s not back from the holidays. I would be happy to take your name and have him call you.”
My heart filled with disappointment with her words. I hadn’t thought about the fact that he might not be back from the holidays. I desperately wanted to help Trey and I forgot some important steps.
I sighed. “No, that’s okay. Thank you anyway.” My shoulders slumped as I turned the chair to wheel away.
“Wait,” she said, standing and coming around her desk. She put her hand on the push handle of my wheelchair and gave me a less stern smile than the first one. “Let me check and see if he has time to see you. He’s here, but doesn’t want anyone to know as he has end of year paperwork to finish and doesn’t want to be interrupted.”
I bit my lip and looked back toward the closed door of the office. “I don’t want to disturb him then. He won’t be happy if I interrupt his work.”
She smiled and patted my back. “We all need a break sometimes. Let me check. Wait right here.”
She disappeared inside the door and I folded my hands anxiously. If he wouldn’t see me today, there would be no way to plead my case before Trey started applying at other hospitals. That would mean we had to leave Duluth, which was not something I wanted to do, nor did he.
She came back out and held the door for me. “Mr. Livingston will see you now, Allison,” she said with a smile.
I took a deep breath and pushed the chair forward trying my best to tamp down the nervousness in my stomach. Once I was through the large ornate wooden door, the receptionist pulled it closed behind me and left me alone with Mr. Livingston. He stood and came around his desk.
“Hello, Allison, I’m Mr. Livingston, but you can call me George,” he said, with an outstretched hand.
I shook it, my nervousness disappearing with his friendliness. “Hi, George. My name is Allison Drakos and I was hoping for just a minute of your time to talk about one of your employees.”
He pulled a chair away from his desk and sat in it, opposite of me, so we were on the same level. “Just so you know, I can’t speak to specifics about employees because it’s against the law.”
I nodded. “I know, but you could consider this more like an FYI type of meeting.” He motioned with his hand to continue and I cleared my throat. “It’s regarding one of your prosthetists in the rehabilitation department and his boss Mr. Garrison.”
His face pinched as though he had just eaten a lemon. He leaned forward and took a legal pad off his desk and a pen, obviously ready to take notes. “I’ve been out for most of the holidays. I apologize, but I don’t know what’s gone on. Would you fill me in?”
“My boyfriend, Trey Helton, was fired by Mr. Garrison,” I said in a whoosh and he leaned forward on his knee.
“What was the reason he gave Trey?” he asked and I squirmed in my chair. I didn’t realize how hard it would be for me to tell him the truth.
“It’s my fault, Mr. Livingston. He told Trey if he wanted to keep his job he would have to stop dating me because I’m a patient. He told him that breaks the rules of his contract.”
He leaned back in his chair and nodded. “It does. The contract he signed specifically states he cannot date patients.”
“I know, but we were dating before I became a patient.” It seemed deceptive to use this tactic, since we had only dated once, but in my opinion, it still counted. “Trey was the one who found me after my accident and he hasn’t left my side. He moved me into his house so I could recover and we love each other. I don’t think it’s fair that he lost his job because of me. What if we had been married when I had my accident, would the hospital have given him the ultimatum to get divorced in order to keep his job?”
“Of course not,” he said quickly.
“Why then, did Mr. Garrison tell him he had to break up with me in order to keep his job? At any given time, any employee in this hospital might be in the position of having their significant other as a patient. You’re the biggest hospital in the area. I don’t understand how you can fire someone who is fantastic at what they do in a field that is already hard to find well-trained practitioners for.” I held up my hand as he went to speak and then lowered it. “I’m not here to beg for his job back. I’m here because I think you’re making a mistake and I think that archaic wording in the contract needs to go.”
I finished my speech and he folded his arms across his chest, staring at me intently. “For the record, no one ever came to me with a concern about Trey. I agree with your statements, as well. I will look over the contract and have our lawyer word it differently. Be assured, there will be clear lines delineated for our staff from now on. Our goal with keeping that part of the contract isn’t to keep people apart, Miss Drakos. It’s there as protection for the patient. I will need to address this issue with Mr. Garrison. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.”
