Chapter 5 - The Reckoning of Marbury General
A collective, deafening gasp echoed through the executive boardroom.
Prudence Howler-Kine’s jaw dropped so low it seemed as though her face had fractured. "Chief... Chief Medical Officer?! That's impossible! She’s a nurse! She’s under federal investigation!"
"No, Dr. Howler-Kine," Augustine spoke, her voice calm, icy, and resonant, stepping forward to the head of the table. "You are under federal investigation."
Florian pulled a thick stack of blue-bound documents from the steel briefcase and slid them across the polished mahogany table to Chairman Sterling and the hospital attorneys.
"What is this?" Sterling asked, his hands shaking as he opened the first file.
"Those," Augustine explained clearly, "are the original, un-redacted clinical trial logs for Apex Pharmaceuticals' anti-coagulant trial from four years ago. The logs that Dr. Howler-Kine thought she had successfully erased from the state archives."
Prudence gasped, lunging forward to grab the papers, but Florian instantly blocked her path with his broad frame.
"Four years ago," Augustine continued, her gray eyes piercing Prudence’s soul, "you accepted two point four million dollars in illegal kickbacks to falsify patient mortality records. When I discovered the altered files, you framed me for drug diversion to protect your position on the hospital board."
Augustine turned her head toward the two hospital attorneys, whose faces had turned ash-white as they scanned the documents.
"In addition," Augustine added smoothly, "those files contain last night's transfer refusal chart—signed in yellow carbon copy by Dr. Howler-Kine—along with full high-definition video footage from the trauma bay corridor, complete with audio of Dr. Howler-Kine mocking a dying patient and ordering staff to abandon him."
"You... you recorded the corridor?!" Prudence shrieked, backing away toward the rear exit of the boardroom.
"I didn't need to record it," Augustine said with a cold, triumphant smile. "Dr. Howler-Kine recorded it herself. She loves doing things in front of security cameras, doesn't she?"
HEAVY FOOTSTEPS ECHOED IN THE HALLWAY.
The rear doors of the boardroom swung open.
Four uniformed officers from the Maryland State Police, accompanied by two special agents from the Department of Health and Human Services, marched into the room.
The lead investigator walked directly up to Prudence Howler-Kine, pulling a pair of heavy steel handcuffs from his tactical belt.
"Prudence Howler-Kine," the federal agent announced loudly, his voice echoing off the high ceilings. "You are under arrest for healthcare fraud, reckless endangerment, falsifying medical records, and obstruction of justice. You have the right to remain silent."
CLICK-CLACK.
The cold steel cuffs snapped shut around Prudence’s manicured wrists.
Prudence began to scream hysterically, struggling against the officers as they turned her around. "Sterling! Help me! Call the governor! You can't do this to me! I am the Chief of Trauma!"
"You were the Chief of Trauma," Chairman Sterling said coldly, looking down at the incriminating files in front of him. "As of right now, your employment is terminated, and the board is cooperating fully with the District Attorney."
As the officers dragged Prudence past Augustine toward the exit, Prudence looked at the quiet nurse she had mocked fourteen hours earlier. Her makeup was ruined, her eyes wide with frantic, pathetic despair.
"You ruined me!" Prudence spat, her voice cracking with pure rage. "You were nothing! You were just a nurse with taped shoes!"
Augustine stepped toward her, her chin high, her green silk dress catching the light of the chandeliers.
"I was always a doctor, Prudence," Augustine said softly. "You were just a snake in a white coat."
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The entire boardroom broke into thunderous, spontaneous applause!
Percy Ashgrove cheered loudly, Barnaby Quillfeather laughed out loud, and even the stern hospital attorneys nodded in deep, overwhelming satisfaction as Prudence was dragged out into the hallway in shame, surrounded by flashing news cameras that had gathered in the lobby downstairs.
