Chapter 39

39. Everyone makes mistakes.

“Pat, I know how you feel about her conduct. Trust me, I am as pissed as you are, and I was the one on the receiving end of it,” I say as I sit across Patrick Wright’s office on the topmost floor of the Northwestern Clandestine Hospital, moments after the whole debacle downstairs, “but firing her over one such mistake is not right.”

Coraline has been stabilized, and her bleeding was effectively ceased. She was not on the brink of danger anymore. A blood transfusion was being done as we speak.

I give Gerald a call and tell him everything, but as I predicted he already knows and is on his way to the hospital. Coraline’s parents have been notified. They had been out of the city on what was a mini-vacation and were racing home. When I talk with them, they beg me to stay and help their daughter until they arrive. This is the second time this month that Coraline landed in a hospital with a threat to her life. I assure them of her safety to the best of my ability before ending the call I cannot imagine what they must feel like. After those calls, I contact Zelt Tech and let them know what happened. I’ve still not gotten a call from the police, but that will come in soon.

All in all, I feel a headache incoming after I sit down in Pat’s office with a cup of coffee in front of me Caffeine helps with tiredness, so I sip it slowly, savoring the warmth as my bones feel strangely cold I have a feeling that this is going to be a sleepless night.

“I know that it might seem harsh, but her attitude towards patients is poisonous. I’m well aware that our hospital is considered prestigious, and we cater to a certain class in this city. But that does not mean we can be discriminatory toward people who we perceive as our targeted base Especially on fanciful factors like the way they dress. Frankly, it’s silly and embarrassing. Pat points out, and I nod I’m aware that he is still cross about it. He’s actually a good man, unlike many individuals in the corporate world that I’ve had the misfortune of coming across He was a man with principles and integrity, as well as an excellent moral compass. Some of the legal requirements in his hospital were a bit too much, I agree But in the long run, even I can’t dispute their necessity.

After all, it is a cutthroat world we live in.

“Perhaps this will be a learning opportunity for her,” I reply, “you saw how devastated she was. Maybe she thought that she was doing the right thing on the hospital’s side. You yourself said that she is quite new.”

“She was and showed much promise. Passed the first of her class in graduation even. I was on the board. that interviewed her.

Clara Jones. She’s still on a trial run if I’m telling the truth”

“See? Let her stay, Pat, and learn from her mistakes. Something tells me that she will not repeat them. again.”

Pat looks at me with an unreadable expression, “I have to say that I’m stunned to hear those things. coming out of your mouth when it was you that she judged so stupidly, just because you had a wrinkled, bloody suit on.”

I shrug. “I’ve worked many jobs in the past,” I provide, “and got to meet all kinds of people through them. Got a lot of experience as well. All I can say is, second chances do wonders to people.”

Pat visibly swallows. “Perhaps there is merit to what you’re saying. I’ll think about my decision more.”

He then calls the Human Resources department and gives them the instruction to tell Nurse Clara that her discharge is under scrutiny, and they would deliver their decision in a day’s time. I feel something loosen in the depths of my abdomen, and it feels loosely like relief. The heavy curtain of guilt clearly melts away “Thank you,” I tell Pat as soon as he ends the call, and he shoots me a smile.

“You’re a good man, Jace. Don’t ever let people tell you otherwise,” he says, but then sobers, “so, a shooting, huh?”

A smile I was sporting slip from my lips. “Yeah. It all happened so fast.”

“The police are on their way to the hospital,” Pat replies, “as is the general procedure for a shootout. They would want to get a statement from you and everything.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time. This is the second time Zelt Tech employees were targeted.” I wet my lips, feeling dread pool within me 1 thought the first attack was random. Wrong time, wrong place. Zelt Tech doesn’t have any prominent enemies “Zelt Tech might not.” Pat remarks in a contemplative voice, “but Greyson Consolidated might. During the last few days, the number of shootings in the city increased drastically I’ve been personally noticing a pattern.

“Oh yeah?” Something tells me that I’m not going to like the direction this conversation was taking.

“And it seems like most of the victims are somehow connected to your father’s company Be it Greyson Consolidated or sister companies. I believe the police had noticed this as well”

Before I can reply, a knock comes on the door “Enter, Pat commands, and Gerald opens the door, “Oh, Mr. Manson We were waiting for you.”

Patrick and Gerald exchange pleasantries, and we fill him in on everything that has happened, including the incident with the nurse Gerald agrees that the young woman should be given a second chance. “Everyone makes mistakes.” he replies with a kind smile, “and almost everyone learns from them in order to not repeat those mistakes again. Besides, kindness helps in cementing the lessons learned from those mistakes.”

Pat repeats the pattern he noticed in front of Gerald, whose expression crumbles into anger and shock. “The police still got no clue about what is happening.” I murmur, “they suspect a certain crime syndicate, of which the name they refuse to reveal, and certain individuals.”

However, with the increase in the consistency of events, I doubt that the individual suspects are really behind it.

“If that is the case,” he says. “I believe that we should have a contingency plan in hand. And have a talk with your father, Joseph.”