Unsanctioned orders

The quiet hum of the car barely masked the nervous energy buzzing between Darnell and me. We were on our way to the hospital, a place I hadn't expected to revisit so soon, and certainly not under these circumstances. The morning sun, already high, cast long shadows as we drove.

"You know," Darnell chuckled, glancing over at me, a playful glint in his eye, "this feels like a classified mission. Like something I dreamt about as a kid, being a secret agent on a covert operation."

I laughed, a genuine, if slightly brittle sound. "A classified mission to track down a bubbly nurse? Doesn't quite have the same ring as disarming a bomb, does it?"

"Hey," he said, holding up a hand in mock offense, "you never know what secrets a bubbly nurse might hold, especially if they work in a hospital. Sometimes the most innocent-looking details hide the biggest problems."

He was right. As we stepped into the sterile, hushed corridors of Evergreen Medical Center, a familiar unease settled over me. We navigated the maze of signs until we found the nurses' station on the ward I'd been on. The same bubbly nurse from before looked up, her eyes widening in recognition as she saw me. She smiled warmly, but her gaze flickered to Darnell, and a hesitant note entered her voice.

"Deppgrl! It's so good to see you. How are you feeling?" she asked, clearly trying to maintain her professional composure while subtly acknowledging Darnell's presence.

"I'm much better, thank you," I replied. "Listen, I'm here because I have some questions about my visit from last time. I know that due to privacy laws, you can’t disclose patient information of an adult to someone without express permission. This is my friend Darnell and he’s the one that protected me from getting killed. It's okay that you speak freely about my medical information with me in front of him." I gave her a reassuring nod.

Her eyes darted between us, a flicker of understanding mixed with a touch of caution giving way to a more resolute expression. "Okay, sure. What can I help you with?" she said, her voice now firmer.

"I was hoping you could pull up my chart from when I was here," I explained. "I have a specific question about something that may have happened."

She nodded, typing quickly on her computer. Her brow furrowed as she scrolled through the digital file, a soft "Hmm" escaping her lips. Then she looked up at me, a stunned expression replacing her usual cheerfulness. "Ah, here it is... there's an order here... for a birth control injection. Depo-Provera."

My stomach plummeted. "What? Depo-Provera? No one got my consent for that! I would remember that conversation." My voice was rising despite my best efforts, laced with a growing disbelief and anger.

The nurse’s eyes narrowed, her initial shock morphing into barely contained fury. Her hands clenched slightly on the desk. "Are you serious?" she practically spat, her voice laced with outrage. "You mean you were just... given this without your consent? That's beyond outrageous!" She didn't wait for my answer, shaking her head in disgust. "That... that ER physician does things like this all the time! Just orders things without patient consent, especially with women! It's utterly deplorable and completely unethical!" She slammed the desk.

"He does?" I was genuinely shocked. "Are you absolutely sure? This is... this is a huge problem, not just for me, but for other patients."

"Absolutely," she confirmed, her voice tight with indignation. "He thinks he's above all protocol, that he knows what's 'best' for everyone. He’s old school and very conservative. It's why we do our best to double-check everything he orders if we have a chance. But sometimes, well, sometimes things slip through." She trailed off, shaking her head again, clearly frustrated.

"Can you print out those orders for the injectable birth control, please?" I asked, my voice now firm, a cold resolve settling over me. "Everything related to that specific order."

"Of course," she said, her fingers flying across the keyboard. The printer whirred to life, and a moment later, a substantial stack of papers slid out. She gathered them, her expression grim, and handed them to me. "I'm so sorry this happened to you, Deppgrl. You really should report him—a few of us who work with him have a number of times but nothing seems to be done. What he did isn't right."

"We will," Darnell said, his voice flat but kind. "Thank you for your help, ma’am. We truly appreciate it."

"Thank you so much," I added, clutching the papers.

As we turned the corner of the hallway, out of sight of the nurses' station, Darnell reached down and quietly clicked off a small tape recorder he'd been holding, slipping it into his pocket.

I stared at him, and my eyebrows raised. "You had that on?"

He met my gaze, then nodded slowly, confirming it was off. "Yeah. I've heard things about this doctor from my colleagues, whispers about his questionable practices. This is mostly regarding my female colleagues. Nothing solid enough to act on, just talk. But I figured, if you were going to ask about something potentially shady, it was worth trying to get it on tape. Now we have something concrete, a recorded statement."

“An unofficial statement, my friend,” I sighed. “It’s a start to get an investigation started but for now it’s just hearsay. Let’s give it to Kay; she’ll know what to do.”

He nodded in agreement.

Once we were in the car, Darnell immediately started the engine and drove us straight to Kay's office. Her administrative assistant, startled by our sudden, unannounced arrival, quickly ushered us into Kay's private office. Kay looked up from her desk, a slight frown on her face.

"Deppgrl, Darnell? Everything alright? This isn't a planned visit," she said, her concern evident.

"We've got something you need to hear, and see," I said, my voice still thrumming with a mixture of anger and disbelief. Darnell then explained our conversation with the nurse, detailing everything from the initial discovery of the unauthorized order in my chart to the nurse's startling confession about the doctor's pattern of behavior. When he finished, he placed the small tape recorder on her desk.

"It's all on there," he stated, his expression serious. "Her unofficial statement about him doing this sort of thing all the time."

Kay listened, her expression growing increasingly grim as Darnell spoke. She picked up the recorder, her fingers tapping it thoughtfully. "This... this changes things significantly. This isn't just a medical error. This is a pattern of serious misconduct, potentially assault. This is a case. I’ll get on it."

We left Kay's office feeling a strange mix of relief and righteous anger, knowing that she and her colleagues would do their research and maybe launch an investigation into the physician. Darnell's phone buzzed constantly on the drive home, and I could tell by his clipped responses that Vince was calling. By the time Darnell got us back to my place, the familiar black SUV was in the driveway, and as we pulled up, I saw not only Vince but a few other officers on my front porch, looking agitated.

Vince came running over to me, his face etched with frantic worry, his strides long and urgent. "Deppgrl! Where have you been? I was worried sick! I thought you'd been kidnapped!" He pulled me into a tight, desperate hug, crushing me against him.

I managed a weak chuckle, trying to lighten the mood despite his palpable fear. "Kidnapped, Vince? If that were to happen, this house would be burnt to a crisp but I'd still be standing. Trust me, you'd know if I was kidnapped."

He pulled back, his hands still gripping my shoulders, his eyes searching my face, a desperate plea in them. "But why didn't you answer your phone? That's what really worried me. The officers were about to start a full search but then I realized that I have Officer Daniels’ number so I called him."

I frowned, reaching into my purse. My fingers closed around my phone and I pulled it out. "Oh, no," I sighed. "It's dead."

"In the future, please leave a note, bring a charger, or both," he said, a note of exasperation in his voice.

"Okay, Pops," I said with a sly smile, a hint of sass in my tone. "Don't expect something every time, okay? I'm not a child."

He kind of looked embarrassed that he was overstepping a bit and then he apologized for doing so. "You're right. I'm sorry. I just... I got scared."

"Okay, everyone!" I hollered, raising my voice to be heard over the murmurs of the officers who had arrived due to Vince’s panic. "I appreciate all of you being here to find me, but I was never missing. Go back to the station. I’ll make sure that you’re fed."

The officers chuckled, some already turning to head back to their vehicles. I immediately reached out to my favorite Indian restaurant to ask them to get some food together for the police department, wanting to thank them for coming out. The female owner, hearing my voice, kept asking how I was and if everything was okay. I assured her I was fine, then asked how she knew. She said that two of her three sons and her one of her many nephews were three of the officers on rotation looking after me during the second half of my ex-husband’s trial.

I explained to her that I was grateful to have so many wonderful officers looking after me, and I’d keep an eye out for her sons and nephew the next time I saw them. She asked how she and her husband could help me. I briefly explained Vince’s mishap of thinking that I was kidnapped when I was truly out doing an errand, so I wanted to do something for the officers on shift for rushing over. She told me not to worry about it, that she and her husband would get it taken care of right away and they’d deliver it themselves. I asked her how much it was so I could pay. She laughed and said that she wouldn’t allow me to pay. I then asked if I could pay half of it. She thought for a few seconds and said that the only way she’d let me pay anything is if she could join me at the sentencing hearing of my ex-husband and be there as part of my community. I told her that would be fine. She told me the amount, and I asked Vince for his credit card without even asking how much it would cost him.

Twenty minutes later, we had my house back to ourselves, and it felt great. As I was settling down to an espresso martini, Vince asked me what my "adventure" had been. I told him that I found out the reason why I wasn't pregnant, and since it was a legal matter under investigation, it needed to remain between Kay, Darnell, and myself.

"Kay? I understand that choice," he said, his brow furrowed, "but Officer Daniels? That I do not understand. I’m your boyfriend."

"Yes, you are," I said, meeting his gaze evenly. “For now.”

Vince paled and his eyes were wide.

"If you continue to act this way and assume that you have the right to know what’s going on all the time, then you won’t be my boyfriend for much longer."

"Seriously?" he asked, his voice laced with disbelief.

I nodded my head. "Seriously. You don't tell me everything, and I don't assume that I have the right to know everything about what's going on with you. I know that I almost died and it scared you. It scared me, too, but I am out and about trying to live my life."

"Are you telling me that I am suffocating you?" he asked, his voice quiet.