Chapter 3

Evan’s call left me distracted for the rest of the afternoon.

Tom’s phone remained switched off.

The department group chat, however, was as active as ever.

June sent a voice message in the group chat.

“Everyone, I have another update. To preserve streamline workflow, I’ve decided to cancel the weekly complex-case review meetings. Just focus on managing your own patients. No more staying up every week putting together presentations.”

Her message received overwhelming supportive responses.

[Yes! No more staying up all night every week to make slides!]

[June, you’re the best!]

I stared at the screen, unsure what to say.

This meant they could do whatever they wanted without having to answer to anyone.

They saw it as freedom. However, I knew it was a disaster for rigorous patient safety.

I took a deep breath and texted Evan.

[Find out where Tom went this afternoon.]

Then, I put my phone away and headed to the office to collect my personal belongings.

I should at least get my patient rounds logbook back.

The back door to the office had not been shut properly.

Sometimes, after cleaning, the janitor would wedge a small stone in the gap so it was easier to push the cart in and out.

I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

My desk had been cleared out.

It was now entirely covered with June’s things.

A pink folder, a Starbucks tumbler, and a photo of her with Tom. In the picture, she was standing beside him, smiling brightly.

I searched around the office and eventually found a cardboard box shoved into a corner.

All of my belongings had been dumped into it.

I crouched down and opened my patient rounds logbook before freezing. Several of the most important pages containing patient data had been torn out.

“Dr. Britton?”

A voice came from behind me.

I turned around and saw June standing by the door.

“Who let you in?” she shrieked. “Your access card was deactivated!”

I held up the logbook. “You tore out my core patient records?”

She blinked, then smiled.

“Oh, those records? They have been incorporated into my clinical reports. You’re suspended anyway, so you can’t use them. It’d be a waste to just leave them sitting there.”

My temper flared. “Those are my patient records. Who gave you the right to use them?”

“Dr. Britton, that’s not acting very fair.”

She sat down in a nearby chair and crossed her legs.

“The patients belong to the department. The records are generated from their treatment. They were always meant to be shared. You’re currently under investigation, which means that every case connected to you could be affected. I’m just safeguarding the department’s interests.”

I snorted in anger. I was about to respond when something on June’s computer screen caught my eye.

The manuscript I had been preparing for submission to a major medical journal was open on her computer.

My mind went blank.

“Why do you have my paper?”

June gave a dismissive smile and said, “You can’t publish in your current situation, right? But if I publish it, I can let you have second author credit.”

“I completed this paper entirely on my own!”

“But the cases were collected through the hospital, weren’t they?” June blinked innocently. “And the research was conducted using department resources and equipment. By academic standards, that makes it a departmental achievement, not just yours.”

My fingers tightened around the notebook. Suddenly, I remembered something.

The day Tom brought June into the department a month ago.

During the introduction, he simply said, “This is June. Please look after her.”

He never mentioned which university she attended, nor her academic background.

At the time, I had not thought anything of it.

Looking back, it was the first time I had ever seen Tom introduce a new hire without saying a word about their qualifications.