Chapter 3 - Christmas Is Over
I stood in the hallway beneath a framed family photograph and listened to Teresa repeat the preliminary finding.
"One compromised account was assigned to a contracted cardiac-services vendor," she explained.
"We don't know whether the account holder is involved."
"Freeze the credentials and preserve everything," I said.
"No accusations until the evidence supports them."
"Agreed."
From the dining room came my mother's raised voice.
"She wants you all to believe she's a saint!"
I closed my eyes.
"I'll be at the operations center as soon as I can," I told Teresa.
Grandma was waiting when I returned.
"Hospital?" she asked.
"Yes."
I faced the table.
"I need to leave."
My mother gave a theatrical laugh.
"Naturally. Run away now that you've made me look terrible."
"You did that without my help."
It was the first time I had said anything like that to her.
My father flinched.
Erin pushed back her chair.
"Natalie, wait."
"Not tonight," I told her gently.
Matthew stood as well.
"I owe you an apology for not recognizing you on the unit."
"You were exhausted," I said.
"We all were."
His expression changed at the word we.
I gathered my handbag and the old badge that had slid from its pocket.
Mom saw it and smiled with sudden triumph.
"There. Your little filing badge. I knew it."
I held it up beside my current identification.
"I was proud of that job," I said.
"I'm still proud of it."
I turned both badges toward the room.
"You made a clerk sound shameful because you wanted being a doctor to sound superior."
Matthew lowered his gaze.
"Our records clerks kept my unit working this week," he said quietly.
Grandma walked me to the porch.
Snowflakes settled on her green cardigan.
"Don't let the next emergency erase what happened here," she told me.
"I won't."
As I reached my car, Erin called my name.
She stood barefoot on the icy step with her phone in her hand.
"Mom just said she has proof you forged your appointment," she whispered.
May you like
Then she showed me a photograph of a document I'd never seen.
