Chapter 8 - The Shadow of the Board
Daniel stood up smoothly, his posture instinctively adjusting into that of a senior commanding officer. He walked to the front door and pulled it open.
Standing on the porch, wrapped in a heavy navy trench coat against the rain, was Captain Raymond Aldrich. Beside him stood an official courier carrying a leather briefcase stamped with the seal of the United States Navy Medical Corps.
"Captain Brandt," Aldrich said, his tone icy, formal, and strictly professional. "I apologize for the intrusion at your residence."
Daniel didn't step back to invite him inside. He stood squarely in the doorway, blocking the entrance. "What do you want, Aldrich?"
Aldrich glanced past Daniel's shoulder, spotting Jo sitting near the living room recliner. A thin, vindictive smirk touched the corner of his lips. "I came to serve Nurse Merrick with her formal administrative notice. The Regional Navy Medical Command has convened an emergency peer review panel for nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
"On what grounds?" Daniel demanded.
"Gross medical malpractice, unauthorized invasive surgery by non-physician staff, and direct insubordination during a critical triage event," Aldrich stated, pulling a thick document from the courier's briefcase. "Her license will be summarily revoked by noon tomorrow, and I am recommending formal criminal charges for reckless endangerment."
Ethan, sensing the tension, scrambled off the sofa and squeezed his small body between Daniel’s leg and the doorframe. He looked up at Aldrich, then looked at Jo, his small hands instinctively forming the sign for Bad man.
Aldrich looked down at Ethan, his eyes cold and unbothered. "Take your child inside, Captain. This is an administrative matter between the hospital authority and a disgraced former employee."
"She saved my son's life when your attending doctor was paralyzed by incompetence," Daniel said, his voice dropping into a register that made the courier take a step backward onto the wet grass.
"She broke federal medical regulations!" Aldrich snapped, his composure slipping. "In my hospital, chain of command is absolute! She is a civilian floor nurse with no legal standing to perform chest decompressions!"
Jo slowly stood up from the living room chair. She picked up her leather binder, walked down the hallway, and stepped up right beside Daniel in the doorway.
She didn't look angry. She didn't look afraid. She looked like a soldier stepping back into the light after nine years in the dark.
"I will be at your hearing tomorrow morning at nine, Captain Aldrich," Jo said quietly, her eyes locking onto his with an intensity that made the chief medical officer flinch. "And I suggest you make sure every member of your review board reads my full service file before you open your mouth."
Aldrich scoffed, snatching the signed acknowledgment form from his courier. "Your service file won't save you from a revoked license, Ms. Merrick. Nine o'clock sharp in Room 4B at the regional headquarters. Don't be late."
He turned on his heel and walked briskly down the wet gravel driveway toward his staff car.
Daniel closed the heavy door, turning to look at Jo. "You're going to fight him."
May you like
Jo looked down at the binder in her hand, then looked back at Owen and Ethan, who were watching her from the sofa with absolute trust in their eyes.
"No," Jo said, her chin lifting with quiet power. "We're going to put him on trial."
