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All Chapters of They Set Me Up, but I Saw It Coming: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Grant Holloway and I had been married for three years.Everyone at the hospital said we were the perfect match.But as I held the phone to my ear, my palm was slick with sweat."What exactly do you need me to sign?"Grant sounded perfectly calm."Daniel Morris in Bed 16. The pre-op review got held up in the system. You're the doctor on his case, so it'd be better to have all the paperwork in order."Daniel Morris.Fifty-six years old.He had gallstones complicated by acute cholecystitis and was scheduled for a laparoscopic cholecystectomy the next day.But his repeat labs that afternoon had shown abnormal coagulation results, and his liver function tests were off too.I'd personally documented my recommendation in his chart:[The patient is not currently a candidate for same-day surgery. Complete further testing before reassessment.]Dr. Aaron Brown, chief of Hepatobiliary Surgery, had also replied in the department chat.Dr. Brown: [Hold off.]And now Grant wanted me to go back and si

Chapter 2

At 1:12 a.m., Helen called me.Her voice was trembling uncontrollably."Dr. Caldwell, something went wrong with Daniel Morris."I was sitting in the ER observation unit at Lakebridge General, an IV taped to the back of my hand. I went rigid."They took him into surgery?""Yes."Helen sounded close to tears."I told the unit to hold off, just like you said. But then the orders were changed. Elise said Medical Affairs had cleared it. She said Daniel was part of the pilot program and the surgery had to go ahead tonight."I closed my eyes.Elise Parker.She was one of the younger doctors in our division, two years behind me in training.Whenever she saw me, she was all smiles, always offering to get me coffee or help with whatever I needed. Sweet and harmless, like she wouldn't hurt a fly.But she'd had her eye on the hospital's minimally invasive same-day surgery pilot program for months.One successful case would earn her a chance to present at the hospital's weekly clinical conference,

Chapter 3

Three days later, I returned to Avermont for the first time.Not to work.I was there for the hospital's internal review of Daniel's death.As soon as my car reached the hospital entrance, I saw a crowd packed outside the ER.Protest signs whipped in the wind.[JUSTICE FOR OUR FATHER.][STOP PRACTICING ON PATIENTS.][AVERMONT MUST TELL THE TRUTH.]Daniel's wife, Laura Morris, sat on the ground, her voice hoarse from crying.Daniel's mother stood nearby, supported by relatives and clutching a framed photo of him. She looked completely hollowed out.A man in his early thirties stood at the front of the crowd, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the hospital entrance.That was Daniel's younger brother, Ryan Morris.The warning messages had told me he was the one who would attack me with a knife.The moment I stepped out of the car, more than a dozen phones swung toward me."There she is!""That's Jessica Caldwell!""She got a patient killed and still has the nerve to show her face!"The crowd sur

Chapter 4

I held up my phone, angling the screen toward the cameras."At 7:32 p.m. on September 17, I requested that my EHR e-signature credentials be disabled. Here's the IT service ticket."Someone moved their phone closer for a better look."What does 'disabled' mean?"I replied, "It means that after 7:32, any e-signature made using my credentials couldn't have been mine."Grant responded immediately."Your e-signature is only one piece of the puzzle. You could've given verbal instructions. You could've directed the team in person and had a junior doctor start the case."I nodded."Then let's look at the second piece of evidence."I pulled up Daniel's progress note."At 7:36 p.m., I documented that Daniel's coagulation results were abnormal and that he wasn't a candidate for an after-hours case under the same-day surgery pilot program. I recommended postponing the surgery."Then I pulled up the third screenshot."At 7:40 p.m., I told the unit in our department chat not to send Daniel to the O

Chapter 5

The older man glanced off-camera.His voice wasn't loud, but it silenced the entire crowd."Why can't I be here?"No one around us seemed to understand what was happening.Dr. Wallace, however, immediately straightened, his tone changing completely."Dr. Whitaker."The moment he said the name, the crowd seemed to freeze.An older doctor blurted out, "Henry Whitaker? The former chair of the expert panel at the State Medical Quality Review Board?"The renowned hepatobiliary surgeon?"Didn't he retire years ago?"The color slowly drained from Elise's face.Grant's fingers stiffened at his sides.Dr. Whitaker looked at Dr. Wallace through the screen and said calmly, "Dr. Wallace. It's been a long time. Is this how Avermont handles patient deaths now? By offering up a doctor who wasn't even there just to give the family someone to blame?"Sweat immediately beaded on Dr. Wallace's forehead."Dr. Whitaker, there may be some misunderstanding here. We're still investigating...""Three days of i

Chapter 6

Elise was still trying to deny it."Plenty of people in this hospital wear pink hair ties. You can't say that was me based on that alone."Dr. Whitaker nodded."Of course not. Keep going."Next came the OR badge-access records.At 9:58 p.m., Elise used her badge to enter OR 3.At 10:05 p.m., the anesthesiologist entered.At 10:08 p.m., the circulating nurse entered.At 10:12 p.m., the scrub nurse entered.There was no record of my badge being used to enter the OR at any point during that time.Grant said in a low voice, "Someone could've followed another staff member into the OR without swiping a badge. We still can't completely rule out that Dr. Caldwell went in."Dr. Whitaker glanced at him."You seem very good at coming up with things that 'can't be completely ruled out.'"Grant's expression tightened.Next came the automated data from the anesthesia machine.Daniel's anesthesia began at 10:16 p.m.His blood pressure first dropped significantly at 11:04 p.m.At 11:11 p.m., the syste

Chapter 7

The engineer said quietly, "The footage wasn't deleted. It was only hidden from the standard search interface."Dr. Whitaker said, "Restore it."Once the footage was restored, the image was much clearer than the badge-reader photo.At 9:44 p.m., the person who had used my old access badge to enter the surgical building was Elise.The camera caught her face clearly when she removed her mask.After swiping the badge, she slipped it into the pocket of her white coat.It was the spare access badge I'd kept in my office drawer.I'd thought I'd lost it a long time ago.But I hadn't lost it.Someone had stolen it to dig my grave for me.Elise's legs gave out, and she collapsed into her chair."No... It wasn't just my idea."She suddenly turned to Grant."He told me to take it! He said as long as we faked a record showing Jessica had come back to the hospital, he could list her as the primary surgeon afterward!"Grant's face hardened."Elise, think very carefully before you say another word."

Chapter 8

What came out in the rest of the investigation was even uglier than I'd imagined.Investigators recovered the data from Elise's phone first.She thought deleting the chat history would be enough.But she'd left her cloud backup turned on.It was full of messages between her and Grant.They'd been having an affair for six months.And it wasn't just an affair.There had been a plan, too.Grant: [Jessica's promotion is basically guaranteed this year. Once she gets it, more of the department's resources will start going her way.]Grant: [She's too cautious. That's why the pilot program is moving so slowly. Daniel's case is manageable. If you pull it off, it'll make you stand out.]Grant: [She won't take risks. You will. If it works, you get the credit. If it doesn't, she's the physician responsible for his care. She won't be able to walk away from it.]Elise: [She's your wife. Are you really willing to do that to her?]Grant: [She's too good at what she does. I'm sick of everyone saying I'

Chapter 9

The State Medical Quality Review Board eventually issued its final investigative report.The direct cause of Daniel's death was the improper management of a vascular injury during surgery and the delay in bringing in a senior surgeon, which ultimately led to hemorrhagic shock.Elise had violated surgical privileging requirements and pushed ahead with a case that did not meet the criteria.Grant had altered medical records, falsified the surgeon-of-record entries, hidden surveillance footage from the standard search index, misled Daniel's family, and deliberately stirred up conflict.The day the report was released, Avermont held a hospital-wide staff meeting.Dr. Wallace apologized to me in front of everyone."Dr. Caldwell, during the initial investigation, the hospital relied too heavily on one-sided information and rushed to contain the public fallout. That caused you serious harm, and the hospital accepts responsibility."The room was packed.Some people couldn't meet my eyes.Some

Chapter 10

Six months after that night, I was once again the primary surgeon for a complex laparoscopic procedure from start to finish.The patient was seventy-three, with intrahepatic bile duct stones and recurrent infections.During the preoperative safety check, I verified each item in turn.Patient identity. Imaging. Lab results. Coagulation status. Blood type and crossmatch. Surgical consent. Required approvals on file.The circulating nurse smiled."Dr. Caldwell, you're stricter than the system now."I said, "Systems can be tampered with. We can't afford to be careless."The surgery took four and a half hours.Adhesiolysis. Bile duct exploration. Hemostasis. Irrigation. Drain placement.Every step was steady and controlled.When the final sutures were in, the scrub nurse said softly, "Nice."I pulled off my gloves. My back was damp with sweat.The moment I stepped out of the OR, the patient's family gathered around me."Doctor, how did it go?"I replied, "The surgery went well. His vital si

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