Chapter 4

To pacify the angry public, the hospital held a special briefing session for the Fletchers. The intention was to explain the standard procedure for the hospital's patient intake process, but Tina invited a bunch of reporters to attend the session, with Mindy sitting by her side.

Mindy looked very pale, and her wrist had a thick bandage around it. I glanced at her and looked away.

Before I got on stage, I went to the hospital's archives and retrieved all the old files from fifteen years ago. Meanwhile, I received news from the police that some of my bullies from years ago had handed over an audio recording because their conscience had pricked them.

It was a recording of Tina when she stood at the lectern and said, "There must be a reason that you're targeted by your classmates. Why would they choose to bully you and not someone else?"

I downloaded the recording. "Because what comes round will come round."

The briefing session started, and Gavin stepped onto the stage to explain that the hospital does not condone any doctor's behavior of refusing patients. He clarified that I had applied to be recused from the patient's case in accordance with procedure, and the hospital has reached out to other teams.

However, the reporters refused to accept the explanation.

"This is clearly a case of a doctor refusing a patient. Why can't the hospital or doctor explain the reason?"

"The patient is in serious condition and might encounter life-threatening danger while waiting for the other team to respond. Who will take responsibility when that happens?"

"Is Dr. Shaw undermining the patient's family just because she's a famous doctor?"

Tina suddenly stood up. She held the microphone and choked back a sob. "I don't understand all this professional jargon. All I know is that my daughter is fighting with death for more time. I'm begging you as a mother, Dr. Shaw, to help save Mindy no matter how much you hate me."

Lowered discussions could be heard coming from below the stage as cameras pointed in my direction. Everyone was waiting for me to give in, but I turned on my laptop to display the first picture. It was of a young girl covered in wounds.

The briefing room fell silent, and I said, "The girl in the picture is called Carla Shaw. Fifteen years ago, she was bullied by her entire school just because she came from a poor family."

Tina's expression fell apart as she stood up right away. "Why are you showing this picture? What does this have to do with my daughter's condition?!"

The second image I displayed was the injury assessment, which stated that the girl had a cut on her temple and suffered from a soft tissue contusion. The last image was the medical report diagnosing the girl with severe depression and suicidal tendencies.

There were also records of her being admitted to the hospital for a suicide attempt, a letter proving her leave of absence from school.

I displayed one record after the other, and Tina's voice started trembling. "It's not true. It's all fake! What are you trying to do?!"

That was when I finally looked at her. "Don't be anxious, Madam Fletcher. I'm not done yet."

The audio recording appeared on the big screen. "There must be a reason that you're targeted by your classmates. Why would they choose to bully you and not someone else?"

Everyone fell silent in the briefing session, and the reporters holding up their microphones while questioning me froze on the spot. Tina suddenly dashed to the stage. "Turn it off! Turn everything off!"

The security guards tried to stop her as she struggled. Her hair was a mess, and she no longer looked like the dignified educator she portrayed herself to be. "This is slander! What can an audio recording prove?"

I clicked on the next slide, which displayed statements from my old classmates. Someone wrote: [We pour buckets of water on her. Ms. Fletcher saw us do it but did nothing about it.]

[Ms. Fletcher told us not to play with people like her.]

Screenshot after screenshot of texts were displayed.

In the end, I showed her a picture of myself.

"Madam Fletcher, you claim not to know who I am, but fifteen years ago, you said this in public, and it prompted a young girl to jump off a building." I stood under the spotlight and stared right at her. "But she didn't die. She climbed out of the hospital bed to crawl her way inch by inch out of the dark abyss, and she is now standing right in front of you as your daughter's only cure."

I looked at her. "Now, do you know why I had to recuse myself?"

Tina's lips were trembling, and there was finally a look of fear in her eyes.