BROWNIE: An Angel's Visit Read online

  “Thank you for seeing me on such short notice.” Morgan sat erect with a visible arch in her back, as she had been taught to do in modeling school. “I know your time is valuable, but there is a matter of some urgency we need to discuss.”

  “And what matter might that be?”

  “The nurse named Kenni Hastings,” Morgan announced with an exaggerated sigh. “I came to see my daughter yesterday. Angela should be resting, not running around the hospital.” She blinked, her gray eyes glistening. “I think Mrs. Hastings is a bad influence on my daughter, Doctor Bernstein, and I’m extremely worried.”

  Bernie felt a knot in his stomach and decided he was not looking forward to hearing whatever else she was about to tell him, but one on staff at Brannan’s Point Pediatric didn’t attempt to censor this woman. “Go on.”

  Morgan lowered her dark-lashes for a second before she looked up and into Doctor Bernstein’s eyes. “Angela is a very sick little girl. She should not be dragged out of bed to watch movies,” she appealed quietly. “I pay for, and expect, my daughter to be given the best care and attention possible. And she likes Nurse Hastings and wants to please her. She would never tell her that she would prefer to stay in bed and rest like Mommy wants her to.”

  Bernie drummed his fingertips on the cold top of the wooden desk. “Mrs. Cole, there is nothing at all wrong if Angela goes to the children’s theatre and enjoys a movie,” he explained softly, without hesitation. “It’s marvelous, actually. Surely you know about the theatre. You must see it sometime if you haven’t already. It is a real working movie theatre, complete with a commercial popcorn machine and all the trimmings—and the kids love it! It’s quite a place, and a project we are very proud of, and grateful, of course, to the Cole Foundation for making it possible.”

  He sensed that unless he agreed with Mrs. Cole, he was about to have a battle on his hands. As far as he was concerned, Nurse Hastings had done nothing wrong. “My dear, Angela has been doing wonderfully now for weeks. Ordinarily a child in her state of health would not be hospitalized. I understand that you made special arrangements with the Board for her to remain hospitalized, but there is no need for her to be isolated in her room. No rules were broken and her health was not in any jeopardy. Children who are contagious aren’t allowed in the theatre.”

  It was common knowledge that to disagree with Morgan Cole was to tempt fate, but Bernie was not going to allow her to criticize staff and potentially harm someone’s reputation when the condemnation was unfounded. He unflinchingly met her gaze.

  “Doctor Bernstein, Angela has leukemia! I know that her disease is terminal, and I don’t understand your lack of concern for my child.”

  Bernie leaned back in his chair and tried to hide his growing annoyance. He tapped his fingertips together, his hands forming an upside-down “v” before him while he thought about how he might respond.

  “I don’t want my daughter out of bed when she should be resting,” Morgan said firmly. “There’s no point in talking to Doctor Hastings—I tried that last night and got nowhere.”

  Bernie raised one bushy gray eyebrow. “Perhaps I should ask Doctor Hastings if he has a few moments to join us.”

  “Are you questioning what I’ve told you?” Morgan stiffened. “My word should be sufficient, Doctor Bernstein. Besides, Jeb Hastings isn’t going to side against his wife. The unwritten laws of marriage are often stronger than medical ethics or hospital politics.”

  Bernie felt tension in his neck, but years of dealing with difficult situations had taught him how to hide his feelings. “Mrs. Cole,” he began as he looked into the icy depths of her eyes, “I’m not sure you comprehend exactly what you’re implying. If you have a legitimate complaint about members of the staff of this hospital, then by all means you have every right to make your concerns known.”

  “Isn’t that what I’ve done?” Morgan asked incredulously as she leaned slightly forward in her chair. She had expected him to agree with her and have Kenni Hastings immediately removed from her daughter’s care team. She was not used to being challenged.

  “Not exactly, Mrs. Cole.”

  Morgan shook her head in growing exasperation. Her porcelain-like complexion showed a flush of pink rushing upward from her neck to bathe her cheeks in a doll-like glow. “Doctor Bernstein, Kenni Hastings is incompetent. She also acts in ways that make it obvious to me that she is trying to rob me of my daughter’s affections! She is unprofessional, at least when it comes to my daughter. I know what’s best for my daughter. I demand that something be done about her behavior and her unwillingness to follow my orders.”

  One bushy gray eyebrow darted upward. “Did I hear you say your orders, madam?” Bernie was more than a little disturbed by Morgan’s choice of words. “Are you implying that you give the orders when it concerns your daughter, Mrs. Cole?”

  “I want the woman removed as Angela’s caregiver… period!”

  Bernie shook his head. She had seemingly ignored his questions, as he suspected she might. “I’m afraid that I will not be able to accommodate you. There is absolutely no cause for Nurse Hastings to be removed from Angela’s team. Removing a nurse from a case is a very serious matter. You must be reasonable, Mrs. Cole. Taking a child who presents as healthy to the theatre is not just cause for such an action.”

  He longed to shout at the top of his lungs: Do you know how miserable you make your daughter? How can you do this to your own child? All she wants is to spend time with you, her mother! But his words were uttered in silence, heard only in the privacy of his mind.

  Morgan glanced at the cream-colored ceramic tile, cold beneath her booted feet. Doctor Bernstein had become an opponent, and one she regarded as inferior at that. “I can’t tell you how disappointed I am that you and I are unable to settle this matter civilly, discreetly. You leave me no choice but to go over your head.”

  “I see.” Bernie forced himself not to smile. She is actually threatening me. He admired her determination but little else about Morgan Cole.

  “If that’s how you want to handle this, it is certainly your prerogative.” Bernie got to his feet. She had wasted enough of his time with her attempt at a power play and he had work to do.

  Morgan narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you dismissing me?”

  “’Dismissing’ is a harsh term, Mrs. Cole,” he corrected. He did not flinch under her scrutiny. “I find your complaints to be without merit. Besides, you’ve already threatened to go over my head. What point is there in continuing this conversation? If you’ll excuse me, I have a rather busy schedule today. Busy doctors are waiting for me, and I must be on time for rounds or it throws the entire schedule off for everyone.”

  Stiffly, Morgan got to her feet. “This isn’t over. As I said, I had hoped we could settle this here, without it going any further. I can see that’s not possible.”

  “You’re right, it’s not. As I’ve already stated, your allegations about Kenni Hastings are unfounded.” Bernie cleared his throat. “I can’t help wondering about your motivation or why you’ve focused in on one of our best nurses. Whatever the case, I’m unable to grant your request. I’m truly sorry that we couldn’t work this out.”

  “That is unfortunate!” Morgan snapped with a contentious, icy stare that left no doubt as to her annoyance with her adversary. She retrieved her purple suede gloves from her purse, held them in one hand and repeatedly tapped them against the palm of the other as she spoke. “I know Clay Parmenter will not be happy to hear about this.”

  Her reference to the Chief of Staff did not strike fear in Bernie’s heart, as he had expected she would throw at least one name around in a last ditch effort to get her way. He shrugged. “Doctor Parmenter is a fair, compassionate man. I’m sure he’ll give you his undivided attention.” He reached his hand across the desk, offering it to her. “I hope there are no hard feelings, Mrs. Cole. I handle things the way I see fit. I’m sure that as a successful business woman that you can understand that.”

 
“We all do what we have to, Doctor Bernstein, even when it’s obviously wrong.” Morgan declined the handshake, turned on her heel and was gone in a blur of golden hair and vivid purple suede as she darted out the door and slammed it behind her.

  ***

  Jeb heard a knock on the door of the private entryway to his office. Only a handful of people, fellow physicians and sometimes his wife, used that particular door. “It’s open!” He neatly stacked Michael Donahue’s file on top of several other folders, adding his to the dossiers of children scheduled for admission.

  “Good morning, Jeb. I’m sorry to interrupt, but do you have a moment?” Bernie asked as he stuck his head through the open door into the younger doctor’s office.

  “Good morning, Bernie. Come in.” Jeb heard a sigh as Bernie came into the room and closed the door behind him.

  Bernie’s eyes were drawn to a large, recent portrait of Jeb and Kenni hanging on the wall behind Jeb’s desk. He was moved by the smiling faces of a man and a woman who loved each other. It was refreshing to Bernie to see that kind of love still existed in a world demanding instant results in just about everything, including personal relationships. There was a time when human affairs of the heart were allowed the time to cultivate, to evolve naturally.

  “I’m sorry to darken your doorstep this morning.” Bernie sat down in a chair. “I had a visit earlier from Morgan Cole.”

  “Oh? And what’s up with the Ice Princess?” Jeb asked. “Oops.” He sighed and his cheeks grew warm. “I’m sorry about that.”

  Bernie had heard that one before and chuckled softly. “No, it’s an apt description, and one I’ve heard around the hospital on more than one occasion. The woman has the coldest eyes I’ve ever seen. I think they could cause corneal frostbite if you looked into them without eye protection when she’s not happy.”

  Jeb nodded in agreement. “Mrs. Cole and I had a discussion last night outside Angela’s room. She believes Kenni doesn’t do her job when it comes to Angela. Mrs. Cole refused to accept that it’s okay for her daughter to be around other kids and see a movie.”

  “So I’ve been told,” Bernie admitted and saw a glimmer of concern in his subordinate’s eyes. He held up a hand. “Mrs. Cole wants Kenni removed from Angela’s team; it’s ludicrous.”

  Bernie’s remarks were unsettling and Jeb sat back in his chair. He knew Kenni would be devastated if Angela’s mother had her way. “Why does Mrs. Cole see Kenni as her enemy? There’s something just not right about this, I don’t like it.”

  Bernie didn’t like it either. “She dropped Clay Parmenter’s name while she was in my office, and it’s a safe bet that she’ll try to get his ear, not to mention his sympathy.”

  “I don’t know him well, but Parmenter has always been fair as far as I know,” Jeb said hopefully.

  Bernie hated the politics that went along with non-profit hospitals, being at the beck-and-call of whoever was offering funding at any given moment. While he knew Parmenter would meet with Morgan Cole, he wasn’t sure how it would turn out. “I think Mrs. Cole is blowing smoke. Kenni has an outstanding record that should stand on its own.”

  Jeb raised an eyebrow. “Bernie, what did she say about Kenni?”

  Bernie shook his head as he recalled the conversation. “Her main point was that she believes Kenni spends too much time with the girl and is trying to steal her daughter’s affections. It’s ludicrous, and if she takes that route with Parmenter I would hope she’ll be laughed out of his office.”

  He noticed the concerned look on Jeb’s face and leaned forward in his chair. “Jeb, you and I both know how important politics and money are to any facility like ours, and the Cole Foundation has done so much for this hospital. I have seen things go strangely awry when there is big money on the table. I just wanted to give you a heads up.” He shook his head. “Our Ice Princess has way too much time on her hands, and a flair for trouble.”

  Chapter 4

  Kenni was holed up in her office as she worked on statistical reports on her computer. Fatigue was setting in and she stifled a yawn. The room was little more than a windowless, glorified closet with pale green walls, a dented beige filing cabinet in fair condition, and a cork board mounted above her desk for displaying important memos and reminders that helped keep her tasks organized. An assortment of framed snapshots of Jeb graced a corner of her desk. A poster of a fluffy, white kitten and its similar-looking mother, both sporting rainbow-colored Dalmatian spots, lent a touch of whimsy to her little corner of Brannan’s Point Pediatric which Kenni lovingly referred to as “the dungeon”

  The workday was coming to an end, and she was ready to go home. It had been a long but satisfying day; most of it spent settling in a new patient, ten-year-old Michael Donahue. As with all new patients, she took her time and made certain that each of Brannan’s procedures were precisely followed. Through experience, she knew the first day usually set the tone for a young patient’s hospital stay. As with all the patients in Kenni’s care, theirs would be an important relationship; her success rate was high when it came to connecting with the children in her care.

  She had found Michael to be a delightful, charming child with dark, striking eyes of an unusual shade of navy blue. He had beautiful, black curly hair and an impish, infectious grin that showed off his dimples when he smiled.

  Kenni hadn’t noticed that Liza Baker, the department desk clerk, was standing in the doorway of her office. Liza was in her early twenties; about five feet tall with waist-length blonde hair, and her dark brown eyes were a striking contrast to the light shade of her hair.

  “Hey, what’s up Liza? I’m sorry, I didn’t see you.”

  “You were obviously into what you were doing and I didn’t want to startle you. I’m glad I caught you before you left,” Liza said. “Doctor Parmenter called earlier for you.”

  Kenni raised one eyebrow and wondered why the Chief of Staff be phoning her. “You’re sure he’s looking for me?”

  “Quite sure,” Liza clarified. She smiled. “Maybe you’ve been selected Employee of the Month. It’s not much, but you sure deserve something for all the hard work you do around here.”

  Kenni smiled at the younger woman’s kind words, but was unable to shake off the rather vague, yet icy-cold sensation she had suddenly felt. It was not ordinary or routine for her to be sought out by their Chief of Staff, and truth be told, he had made Kenni uncomfortable the few occasions she had been in his presence. “Thank you, Liza, that’s always nice to hear. Am I supposed to go to his office? Did he say when?”

  “I’m sorry for not giving you the entire message—blonde moment number three-hundred-and-three!” She shook her head, pulled a slightly crumpled, yellow hospital message form from the pocket of her pink smock and handed it to Kenni with an apologetic smile. “He said he would like to meet with you tomorrow morning at nine, in his office.”

  Kenni read the words Liza had written in blue ink on the message form. She wondered what it was about, and wished she would not have to go through a night of anticipation. She was tempted to call his office and inquire if he could see her now, but decided he must have a reason for the time he had chosen for their meeting, whatever it was about, she’d have to wait and see.

  “Well, I’ve gotta run. My sister is on a flight as we speak from Boston, and Mom asked me to pick her up. She hates to drive near the airport.” Liza looked intently at Kenni, her brow furrowed. “Are you okay? You went a little pale when I told you about Doctor Parmenter.”

  “I did? That’s odd because I’m fine, Liza. My curiosity tends to take on a life of its own sometimes. Jeb says I should become a writer and give my imagination a place to run free. Anyway, there’s nothing quite like ending the day with a cliff-hanger, especially one involving the Chief of Staff, to leave me wondering.”

  “I can’t imagine why you’d have a thing to worry about. Everyone in this hospital knows what a great job you do and the kids adore you,” Liza praised her. “Goodnight, and don’t worry
.”

  “Goodnight,” Kenni said with a forced smile. “Be careful, Vandalia traffic can be wicked this time of day.”

  ***

  As Kenni left the hospital, she noticed that the sky was overcast and it looked like it might snow. A familiar crispness was in the air, the type that often preceded snowfall. The Christmas shopping season was in full swing, yet so far Brannan’s Point had seen only a few flurries. Despite the standard Ohio winter outlook for freezing temperatures and the usual snow and ice, Kenni was hopeful they might have a mild winter despite the gloomy predictions.

  She didn’t want to go home to a dark, quiet house so Kenni stopped in at Saint Charles Toy Shoppe in downtown Brannan’s Point. She had two nephews and one niece, and Christmas shopping was almost at the beat the clock stage she hated. Everyone in town knew Charlie, and Kenni liked to shop at his store instead of the big chains with their maniacal, often rude and unruly bargain hunters whenever possible.

  The bells on the door jingled invitingly as Kenni opened it and went inside. Saint Charles was housed in a brick and masonry building erected in the forties, although Charlie kept the cozy store so clean and bright that it looked years younger than its actual age. A comfortable, warm atmosphere met his customers at the door as the scent of cinnamon potpourri mixed with the cedar-like smell of the ornately carved old wood moldings teased their nostrils. The combination created an inviting fragrance that welcomed shoppers to come in out of the cold. Kenni was reminded of treasured memories of the quaint candy shop her grandfather had brought her to when she was a little girl.

  “Hi there, Kenni,” Charlie greeted as he came out the door from the back room and into the store from behind the counter. “Where’s the good doctor tonight?”

  Kenni smiled. “He’s busy with a consultation. I figured I’d swing by on my way home and take a look around. I have to finish my Christmas shopping and I’m clueless, as usual.”