Page 7 of Raymond's Forever

“Got it,” Scott nodded to Shay. Though they had served in two different branches of the military, Scott still respected and listened to a senior officer.

Everyone looked up as a car slowly made their way forward, and it was Pedro that directed them where to park. The hands that worked at the track seemed to prefer the golf carts to bring them there, rather than their personal vehicles. Raymond himself preferred to walk. It was part of why he felt better, had lost weight, and had reduced his stress. At least that was what he told himself.

“Dr. Johnson,” Shay said as the car parked and the women stepped out. He paused when he saw the bruise on her cheek. “Are you okay?” It took everything he had not to demand the name, address, and phone number of the person who had hit her.

“It’s not what you think! I promise.” She looked over at the woman that exited the passenger side, and when they saw her cheek, she said, “That is. That’s part of why we’re here.”

“Erin wants to be here to listen to what you have to say.”

“I figured. Is there someplace we can talk?”

“Let’s wait for Erin to get here and we can head over to my cabin,” Raymond said with authority and held out his hand to the beautiful woman before him. “Raymond Morris.”

“Amelia Johnson, and this is Betty Laurel.” They looked up when a truck pulled in, and they all saw Erin emerge from the passenger side, and Reid Garett from the driver’s side.

“What the hell?” Erin said as soon as she saw the bruises on the women’s faces. “Please tell me the men have at least one bruise.”

“No,” Amelia said. She pointed to her face and chuckled. “This is because a patient, a little six-year-old boy panicked when I got out the saw to cut the cast off his arm.”

“You’re sure?” Raymond asked.

“Yes, and that was after another patient tossed his lunch all down the front of me. Now, Betty’s bruise is why I’m here.” She looked at the others. “I have proof, and I would like to go somewhere to discuss everything.”

“Come to my cabin,” Raymond said, and instead of walking, he climbed in beside Shay in the golf cart, where Scott joined them. Pedro stayed at the barn and track, and Amelia followed after them, with Reid and Erin following her.

Inside Raymond’s cabin, he immediately started a pot of coffee and handed out water. In ten minutes, they were all settled at the table, but Scott and Reid opted to stand against the kitchen counter.

“A little context,” Amelia said. “Yesterday, I had a day from hell. My car wouldn’t start, so I had to call the garage to come get it. Turned out I needed a new battery.” She waved her hand at them. “It’s fixed now, and the garage dropped it off at the clinic.” She looked at Raymond to explain. “I’m duly certified as a general practitioner, and orthopedic surgeon. A week from this coming Monday, I’ll be opening my own practice over at Broken Two as the general practitioner. That means I can give flu shots, check people out like any doctor, if anyone needs x-rays, Caleb has the machine at his office. We’ll be working together. I’ll be able to prescribe medication.”

“Okay, so why are you here now?”

“As I said, yesterday was a day from hell, first the car was dead. I had a patient that was so nervous about seeing a surgeon, they tossed their lunch all down the front of me. Then that six-year-old boy freaked out about the cast saw,” she said as she reached up to touch the bruise on her cheek. “After my last patient of the day, I was working in my office. I needed to make copies of something. I was in the copier room, the paper ran out, and of course, there wasn’t any there to replace it. I needed to go to the supply room, it was a mess, and I actually took picturesof the condition the room was in. I was going to address the issue Monday morning. Anyway, for some reason, I was behind the door when I overheard voices in the hall. I peeked out of the crack, and filmed it. Do you want me to tell you, or show you.”

“Show us,” Raymond said, but held up his hand and went to get his laptop. Amelia handed him one of the flash drives. “Here is one drive. I have two others, and this is on my phone and backed up on the cloud.” She looked at him with a shrug. “You can’t be too careful.”

Raymond put the drive into the computer, and pressed play. Everyone crowded around him, and when someone slapped Betty, all the men swore. Raymond paused the tape and looked at her. “Do you want to press charges?”

“Eventually, but finish watching it. It gets worse.” Betty pointed to the computer.

Raymond did, and they all stared in shock when they heard what the doctors had discussed, and ended up watching it two more times.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Shay demanded. “Sorry for swearing, but these guys are doing unnecessary surgeries?”

“Yes, and they’re going to come after you. You all saw and heard that there are fake x-rays, and Dr. Perkins wants your file on his desk this coming Monday. If it’s not there, Dr. Ervin will blacklist Betty.”

“Wait.” Raymond held up his hand, jumped to his feet, and looked for some paper and a pen. He settled back down and looked at Amelia. “Tell me who the players are, and their positions.”

“Dr. Alexander Ervin. He is the director of the clinic that is affiliated with the hospital.” She looked at Shay. “The building you came to see me in.” Then, she turned back to Raymond. “Most of the surgeons, regardless of their specialties, have offices in what everyone calls the clinic building. We then goover to the hospital for any surgeries we need to perform. Dr. Ervin is the head of the clinic.”

“And this Dr. Perkins?”

“Dr. Reuben Perkins, he’s new to the clinic. He only started earlier this week. He was hired to replace me as an orthopedic surgeon. I’m not saying I’m special, but I’m good at my job, as soon as I gave my notice there, because I knew I was opening my own practice here, Ervin started looking for my replacement. I met Perkins on Wednesday.”

“What position do you hold at the clinic?” Raymond asked Betty, and waited for her to answer.

“I’m the head nurse in the orthopedic department three days a week. The other two days, I’m in the surgery room, or the OR, with the surgeons. If there aren’t any surgeries scheduled, then I’m in the clinic.”

The room remained silent, and Amelia drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “This next part might be severely wrong, or morally gray, but I did something. If it comes to it, I’m willing to serve time.”