Chapter 4 - The Board of Judgement
The boardroom was made of mahogany and glass,
a cold,
imposing space where careers went to die.
Cameron sat at the head of the long table,
wearing his most expensive suit.
He looked confident,
surrounded by the other department heads.
Sophie sat behind him,
acting as his assistant,
her eyes cast down in a display of false modesty.
I entered the room in a wheelchair,
pushed by my lawyer.
I was still weak,
but I wore my white coat over my shoulders like armor.
The room went silent.
"Amelia," Cameron said,
standing up with a fake smile.
"You shouldn't be here."
"You’re still recovering."
"I’m here for the review of the Grant-Bennett delivery," I said,
my voice steady and clear.
"The one where the attending physician ignored a clear medical emergency."
The board members shifted uncomfortably in their seats.
"Amelia,
this isn't the place," Cameron hissed,
leaning over the table.
"We’ve already discussed this."
"It was a difficult delivery,
but both mother and child are fine."
"I am not fine," I replied.
"I died for three minutes."
I signaled to my lawyer,
who pulled out a stack of documents and a laptop.
"Let’s talk about the protocol for a ten-pound infant," I said.
"Let’s talk about the decision to turn off an epidural during active labor."
"And let’s talk about the intern who manipulated a senior surgeon."
Sophie’s head snapped up,
her face turning pale.
"I have no idea what you’re talking about," she stammered.
I turned the laptop around and pressed play.
The security footage filled the large screens on the wall.
The board watched in silence as the truth unfolded.
They saw the smirk.
They saw the secret whispers.
They saw the moment Cameron chose his mistress's lies over his wife’s life.
"This is a fabrication!" Cameron shouted,
his face turning a dark shade of purple.
"It’s an invasion of privacy!"
"It’s evidence," my lawyer countered.
"Along with the signed affidavits from four nurses who witnessed your threats."
One by one,
the board members looked away from him.
The Chairman of the Board,
a man who had been Cameron’s mentor,
looked at him with pure disgust.
"Cameron," he said,
his voice like ice.
"You didn't just break protocol."
"You used this hospital to settle a domestic dispute."
"You put a patient—your own wife—at risk of death."
"I... I was protecting the integrity of the O.R.," Cameron stammered.
"You were protecting your ego," I said,
standing up slowly from the wheelchair.
I leaned on the table,
stretching my hand out toward him.
My palm was still scarred from the steel rail.
"I am filing for divorce."
"I am filing a medical malpractice suit."
"And as Chief of Emergency Medicine,"
"I am officially recommending the immediate termination of your contract."
The room erupted into chaos.
Sophie tried to run,
but security was already at the door.
Cameron looked at me,
his world crumbling around him.
"Amelia,
please," he whispered.
"Think of our son."
May you like
"I am," I said.
"That’s why I’m making sure he never turns out like you."
