{"id":318,"date":"2016-09-10T13:44:47","date_gmt":"2016-09-10T17:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.herbheineman.com\/?page_id=318"},"modified":"2024-07-26T09:31:23","modified_gmt":"2024-07-26T13:31:23","slug":"chapter-28","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/edensgarden\/chapter-28\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 28: Risk Management"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"318\" class=\"elementor elementor-318\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1fb4b93f e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"1fb4b93f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-30e4910 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"30e4910\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">PART III<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-16b8ba7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"16b8ba7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>\u201cI\u2019m terribly sorry about Eden. I hope you didn\u2019t feel pressured to come back so soon.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI couldn\u2019t stand that empty house any more. Karen\u2019s also gone back.\u201d<\/p><p>Gilda nodded. She turned to the patients in the waiting room.<\/p><p>\u201cDoctor Avery\u2019s had a death in the family.\u201d There was a general murmur of sympathy.<\/p><p>\u201cIs Gordon at the hospital?\u201d he asked Gilda.<\/p><p>\u201cHe\u2019ll be back about eleven.\u201d<\/p><p>One by one, the patients repeated their condolences as Alan attended to them. None was more vocal than Ella Williams. \u201cYour <u>daughter!<\/u> Why, she must have been a mere child!\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cSeventeen.\u201d<\/p><p>Mrs. Williams shook her head. \u201cI lost one of mine age ten. It\u2019s never been the same, even having three more. The one you lose is always your favorite, or gets that way after she dies.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cShe was my only one.\u201d He regretted the words instantly.<\/p><p>\u201cOnly one! Oh dear, oh dear. Doctor, isn\u2019t there something I can do? Maybe your wife needs some help around the house. Can I send her a cake? Can I send one of my girls to help cook or something? She shouldn\u2019t be all alone at this time, and having to fend for herself.\u201d<\/p><p>Alan missed the similarity between Ella\u2019s and Esther\u2019s logic \u2015 and Ella\u2019s had nothing to do with Jewish tradition. Reacting to her manner of expression, he smiled to avoid laughing out loud. He knew she meant every word, but such solicitude from a stranger was foreign to his experience. \u201cYou\u2019re very kind, Mrs. Williams, but really we\u2019re OK.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cWell now, you ask your wife. Men don\u2019t always know what women need.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\">~~~~~~~~~~<\/p><p>Gordon didn\u2019t get back till almost noon. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Alan. Do you feel like going to lunch? My first appointment isn\u2019t till two.\u201d<\/p><p>Gordon drove to the FLYNT [Food Like You Never Tasted], a restaurant off the Schuylkill Expressway.<\/p><p>\u201cI never heard of this place,\u201d Alan said. \u201cA name like that should get around.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI go here when I don\u2019t want to meet anyone I know. I thought we might want to talk undisturbed. Food tastes the same as anyplace else, never mind the hype.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI haven\u2019t had the heart to talk to Rick,\u201d Alan said. \u201cI could go straight to Pathology, but that would seem like bypassing him.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cPathology? What\u2019ve they got to do with it?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cHow bad was the valve? Did she have endocarditis? You know, the autopsy. But maybe it\u2019s academic. We know she had rheumatic heart disease, and even if the valve wasn\u2019t infected now it could\u2019ve become infected any time.\u00a0 Still, it would be reassuring to know it wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p><p>Gordon couldn\u2019t figure out what Alan was driving at. The food \u2015 soup in square bowls, sandwiches on octagonal slices of bread \u2015 was served. \u201cSee? It is different,\u201d Alan said.<\/p><p>\u201cOnly looks that way. Anyway, I can get you the autopsy results if you like.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cNo, that\u2019s OK. I\u2019ll take care of it.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cLook, Alan,\u201d Gordon said suddenly, \u201cyou know it wasn\u2019t any of those things\u2014\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI don\u2019t know that,\u201d Alan insisted. \u201cShe was septic. People die from septic shock.\u201d<\/p><p>Gordon was taken aback by the harshness of Alan\u2019s tone. For some reason, Alan seemed bent on avoiding any reference to the real cause of death.<\/p><p>Alan took a deep breath. \u201cI\u2019m sorry I blew up.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cNo apologies needed. This is all very hard for you.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cOf course,\u201d Alan said, squirting catsup on one of the isosceles triangles of his sandwich, \u201cthe results may not be complete. No sense being impatient. Rick\u2019ll probably call me.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cMaybe,\u201d Gordon said, emptying his cup.<\/p><p>It was Alan\u2019s turn to be puzzled. \u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cHe may have been instructed not to.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"text-align: center;\">~~~~~~~~~~<\/p><p>Alan headed for the records room, where several charts of patients he had discharged awaited his review and signature. As he worked he noticed, behind one of the staff desks, a young woman he had never seen before. A few moments later the chief librarian passed him and offered her condolences. \u201cLooks like you\u2019ve got someone new,\u201d he said.<\/p><p>\u201cThat\u2019s Adele Bright. Started last week. Want me to introduce you?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cNo, I want to finish these. I\u2019ll introduce myself later.\u201d In good time he walked over to Adele Bright\u2019s desk and deposited a stack of records.<\/p><p>\u201cThank you,\u201d she said with a smile. \u201cIs there anything else I can get you?\u201d<\/p><p>Alan leafed through his date book. \u201cDo you have Eden Avery ? She was here a week ago.\u201d<\/p><p>Ms. Bright keyed the name into her computer. \u201cPatient of Doctor Harmon?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThat\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI still don\u2019t know half the doctors here,\u201d she said apologetically. \u201cI\u2019m Adele Bright.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cNice to meet you.\u201d<\/p><p>She went off and returned empty-handed. \u201cIt\u2019s not there. Let me check something.\u201d<\/p><p>Another brief conference with her computer provided the answer. \u201cThat chart\u2019s been traveling,\u201d she said admiringly. \u201cIt was signed out to the second floor last Tuesday. Next day it went to Pathology. Thursday to the Pediatrics office. Next thing, Administration. As far as I can tell, that\u2019s where it is still. Should I call them?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cDon\u2019t bother.\u201d He tried to smile condescendingly. \u201cThey\u2019ll return it in their good time.\u201d<\/p><p>Gordon was right. No lawsuit had even been threatened, and already the defenses were going up. Alan could hear his name whispered in the medical staff lounge, cafeteria, operating rooms, and God only knew where else. His continued silence would only confirm in the minds of his colleagues and the administration that he was laying plans to sue. Without a thought to the mild deception he had committed, he returned to his office and asked Gilda to call Rick.<\/p><p>His buzzer sounded. \u201cI have Doctor Harmon\u2019s receptionist. She says he\u2019s with a patient.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cAsk to have him call me as soon as he\u2019s free.\u201d<\/p><p>An hour later Rick had not returned the call. This was unusual. Rick made a point of returning calls promptly or having his receptionist explain the delay.<\/p><p>When he arrived home, Karen was preparing dinner. \u201cWe can eat in fifteen minutes,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you\u2019re having a drink, I can use one too.\u201d<\/p><p>He made drinks and headed for his study. \u201cI want to make a call before we eat.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cHi, Rick, it\u2019s Alan Avery.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cOh hi, Alan. How\u2019re you feeling? How\u2019s Karen?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re back at work. I guess you know that. I tried calling you at the office.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cYeah, I\u2019m sorry I didn\u2019t get back to you. It was a hectic day. And we\u2019re about to sit down to dinner. Maybe we can talk later.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI just wanted to let you know we\u2019re having a memorial service for Edie a week from Sunday. We thought you might want to come, being her doctor since the day she was born.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI\u2019m sorry, I can\u2019t. I\u2019ll be out of town. But my thoughts\u2019ll be with her, and with you.\u201d<\/p><p>That was all. Alan\u2019s hand was trembling. Eden had been a favorite of Rick\u2019s; he had twice seen her at death\u2019s door, had delighted in her resilience, had nurtured her interest in medical matters, been friend to the family. If he was disappointed to miss the last tribute to her life, his words conveyed the bare minimum of that sentiment, his tone none at all. Gordon was right.<\/p><p>The dinner announcement interrupted his thought. \u201cYou look preoccupied,\u201d Karen said.<\/p><p>\u201cEdie\u2019s record has been impounded by the hospital administration. Rick didn\u2019t return my call. I caught him at home and told him about the memorial service. He\u2019ll be <em>out of town<\/em>. He was itching to get off the phone, I could hear it in his voice. You know what that means?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cOf course.\u201d Her tone was nonchalant. \u201cThey\u2019re setting up for a lawsuit. No one gets to touch the chart, and everyone associated with the case has been silenced. Routine procedure.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cNo one\u2019s even talked about a lawsuit.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThey see it coming. Someone up there\u2019s drawing a nice fat salary doing risk management. To the outside world that\u2019s to minimize risk of harm to patients; inside the office it\u2019s risk of damages from malpractice suits.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cWell, let them do whatever they want in their damn office. But they have no business souring relationships among the medical staff. I have no intention of suing them.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p><p>Alan laid down his fork.\u201d You what?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cListen, Alan,\u201d she said, leaning across the table till her face was a mere foot from his, \u201cyou know, I know, and they know that that child of ours was killed by carelessness. We have books in the office. I know they could have treated her without using a penicillin drug. If I\u2019m wrong, better tell me this moment, because that\u2019s the only thing that\u2019s going to stop me\u2014\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThey could have used vancomycin.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cAll right. My God, when I think that of all the penicillin drugs out there, he had to pick one with a name you can\u2019t recognize. I could\u2019ve stopped him. . . . Well, they\u2019re going to pay.\u201d<\/p><p>Alan looked tired.\u00a0 \u201cWhat are we going to do with the money? There are no expenses; it\u2019s all punitive. It won\u2019t bring Edie back. Just cause a lot of hard feelings for no good purpose.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI can\u2019t believe I\u2019m hearing this,\u201d Karen said, eyes blazing. \u201cWake up, Alan! Do you realize what\u2019s happened?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cYes, I realize.\u201d Alan\u2019s voice was rising. \u201cAnd I also know we can\u2019t turn time back. I\u2019m not interested in vengeance.\u201d<\/p><p>She drew back, arms folded, and looked at him calmly. \u201cYou haven\u2019t lost what I\u2019ve lost.\u201d<\/p><p>Alan felt a chill. \u201cWhat are you saying? Do you think she was less to me than to you?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cIn a parental sense, I guess not.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201c\u2018Guess not, guess not.\u2019 What the hell are you driving at?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cOK, I\u2019m sorry. I didn\u2019t mean to imply that you weren\u2019t a good father.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThen would you be so good as to tell me just what you <em>did<\/em> mean?\u201d<\/p><p>Karen\u2019s calm began to give way to anger. \u201cYou gave up nothing to raise her. So you lost your daughter, but your career was doing just fine all the time she was growing up and you\u2019re not about to jeopardize it by rocking the boat, are you?\u201d<\/p><p>He took a deep breath. The silence was palpable. He nodded slowly. \u201cSo that\u2019s it.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cYes, that\u2019s it!\u201d she shot back. \u201cDo you want to hear it in detail?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThat\u2019s not necessary. I know it \u2015 right back to the abortion you didn\u2019t have. You have a powerful weapon. With one stroke you can compensate for your career and destroy mine. So you punish McCrae, or Harmon, for allowing Edie to die, and me for insisting she be born.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI\u2019m not trying to punish you, just to beat some sensitivity into you for what this has cost me. I have nothing left. Do you understand? <em>Nothing!\u201d<\/em> He would have liked to comfort her but he felt too stung by her attack to move. How awful, he thought, just when a couple need each other\u2019s support they cut it off by casting blame and cruel accusations.<\/p><p>He got up and carried the dishes to the counter. Then he slowly walked to his study and sat on the sofa. As he tried to figure what was next, she entered softly and sat in the armchair.<\/p><p>\u201cWe\u2019re both mourning for our only child,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not as if one of us was accusing the other of killing her, so why do we have to fight?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI was asking myself the same thing. We should be consoling, not accusing each other. So what are we going to do? We seem to be miles apart.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI just can\u2019t let it go. As if we hadn\u2019t been hurt enough, we have these despicable tactics by the hospital. Now I know how it feels to be stonewalled. And Rick, that hypocrite!\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cI don\u2019t think a lawsuit should be started because of the anger of the moment, no matter how justified it is,\u201d Alan said. \u201cWe do have to think of the consequences. If we go through with it, win or lose, I\u2019m finished at Cresheim Valley and in the medical community.\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cThen, why can\u2019t we move elsewhere? What\u2019s to keep us here?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cNow we\u2019re in the realm of fantasy. Our home is here, our friends, and \u2015 I say this deliberately \u2015 both our careers. Can\u2019t we think about this awhile? Don\u2019t we have two years?\u201d<\/p><p>\u201cTime might dissipate my anger at Rick, who\u2019s undoubtedly following orders. But the rest is unchanging. If you want to wait, OK, but I\u2019m not changing my mind. Before that statute of limitations runs out, I\u2019m going to claim my day in court.\u201d<\/p><p>Later, as she lay sleepless in bed, she conceded that whatever chance she had for professional achievement lay with F &amp; D. Nowhere else would she be assured of the support and goodwill she enjoyed there. Maybe moving elsewhere wasn\u2019t such a good idea. She\u2019d give herself more time \u2015 but only to find a way to neutralize Alan\u2019s fears.<\/p><p>Alan, meanwhile, was having second thoughts of his own. Maybe moving wasn\u2019t such a <em>bad<\/em> idea. Internists were in demand everywhere.\u00a0 Classified ads in the medical journals were full of enticing offers. Come to think of it, starting over might be easier for him than for Karen. Buoyed by the feasibility of that option, he was about to fall asleep when another idea jolted him awake so hard he was afraid Karen might notice. His imagination placed him in the courtroom where the case of <em>Avery \u00a0v. Cresheim Valley Hospital<\/em> was being tried. He had been called to the witness stand by Bobbie Buehl, who wanted to impress the jury with the plight of a father bereft of his only child. The cross-examination was in progress.<\/p><p>DEFENSE COUNSEL: Doctor Avery , did your daughter have an underlying condition before the knee became infected?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: What was that condition?<\/p><p>ALAN: Rheumatic heart disease with aortic valve insufficiency.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Is that condition serious?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Please explain in what way it is serious.<\/p><p>ALAN: In a number of ways. Insufficiency of the aortic valve can lead to heart failure or even sudden death. To prevent that, it may be necessary to replace the valve, and that is major surgery which can also kill her. Then, a damaged valve is susceptible to bacterial infection, called bacterial endocarditis. That can kill her directly, or it can further damage the valve.<\/p><p>COUNSEL (shaking his head sorrowfully): That sounds like an awful burden for a young girl to live with. Explain to us if you will, doctor, how one gets rheumatic heart disease.<\/p><p>FRANK FRAZIER: Your Honor, I object to this line of questioning. He\u2019s treating the patient\u2019s father like an expert witness.<\/p><p>DEFENSE COUNSEL: Your Honor, this witness is a physician. I\u2019m only trying to establish that he has been familiar throughout with his daughter\u2019s condition.<\/p><p>JUDGE: I\u2019ll permit the questions on that basis. Objection overruled. Proceed.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Doctor, you were about to explain how one gets rheumatic heart disease.<\/p><p>ALAN: It\u2019s a long-term complication of rheumatic fever.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: And how does one get rheumatic fever?<\/p><p>ALAN: Following a strep throat.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Does that mean that I can get rheumatic fever, and then rheumatic heart disease, and endocarditis, open-heart surgery, and all that, any time I get a strep throat? And how about my eight-year-old son, and my five-year-old daughter?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes, you can, and they can. If the strep throat isn\u2019t treated in time.<\/p><p>COUNSEL (suddenly stopping in his tracks on the way to his table and turning to Alan): You say \u201ctreated in time.\u201d\u00a0 Does that mean, treatment in time can prevent rheumatic fever?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes.<\/p><p>COUNSEL (frowning, hands clasped behind his back): Did your daughter have a strep throat before she got rheumatic fever?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Was she treated in time to prevent rheumatic fever?<\/p><p>ALAN: No.<\/p><p>COUNSEL (pacing back and forth): Who was her doctor when she had her strep throat?<\/p><p>ALAN: Doctor Richard Harmon. (Murmurs from spectators.)<\/p><p>JUDGE (gaveling): Order, please.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Who took your daughter to see Doctor Harmon, you or your wife?<\/p><p>ALAN: Neither of us. It didn\u2019t seem that serious. (Karen, who was sitting with the spectators, looked at him expressionless.)<\/p><p>COUNSEL (stopping his pacing again): Not serious! Wasn\u2019t her throat sore?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes, but so is a viral sore throat.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Well, if you didn\u2019t take her to Doctor Harmon, who decided what treatment if any to give your daughter?<\/p><p>ALAN: I did.<\/p><p>COUNSEL (feet apart, facing Alan squarely): You\u2019re a practicing physician, aren\u2019t you, Doctor Avery ? (Subtle emphasis on the \u201cdoctor.\u201d)<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes, I am.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Do you practice a specialty?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: What is that specialty?<\/p><p>ALAN: Internal medicine.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Are you board certified in internal medicine?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Does treatment of strep throat come under the specialty of internal medicine?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes.<\/p><p>COUNSEL (walking to the jury box and from there, feet again apart, addressing Alan): So you, doctor, a board-certified internist, did not take your daughter\u2019s strep throat seriously. As a result of your not taking your daughter\u2019s strep throat seriously, you did not give her penicillin; you did not take her to see Doctor Harmon, who might have given her penicillin; she developed rheumatic fever; and she ended up (voice rising continuously) with a damaged valve, possibly facing heart failure, open heart surgery, bacterial endocarditis, sudden death\u2014<\/p><p>FRANK FRAZIER (on his feet): Ob-jection! Counsel is haranguing the witness.<\/p><p>JUDGE: Sustained. Counsel, please refrain from sermons. Question the witness.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: All right, I withdraw the question. (Sits down at table shuffling papers. Addresses judge: \u201cIf Your Honor pleases, one moment to find what I\u2019m looking for. Ah, here we are.\u201d Rises to address Alan.) Doctor Avery , when a damaged valve becomes infected, where do the bacteria come from?<\/p><p>ALAN: Through the blood stream.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: How do they get into the blood stream?<\/p><p>ALAN: Usually from the mouth. That\u2019s why patients with damaged valves get antibiotics prophylactically when they have dental procedures.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Did your daughter have a dental procedure recently?<\/p><p>ALAN: No.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Are there other places that the bacteria can come from?<\/p><p>ALAN: The urinary tract is next most common.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Did your daughter have a urinary tract procedure recently?<\/p><p>ALAN: No.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Is it possible for the bacteria to come from a skin infection?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Like an infected knee, for example?<\/p><p>ALAN: That\u2019s possible.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Did your daughter recently have an infection on her knee?<\/p><p>ALAN: Yes.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Who took her to see Doctor Harmon, you or your wife?<\/p><p>FRANK FRAZIER: Objection, Your Honor. No foundation.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Let me rephrase. Did your daughter visit Doctor Harmon for an examination of the knee, with or without one of her parents?<\/p><p>ALAN: No.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Who treated her?<\/p><p>ALAN: My wife and I.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Who called the shots as to the type of treatment?<\/p><p>ALAN: I did.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Was her knee getting better on the day she was taken to the hospital?<\/p><p>ALAN: No, not yet.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: So your daughter had a knee infection, from which bacteria can get into the blood and infect her damaged heart valve; you did not take her to her doctor; (voice rising continuously) you yourself called the shots; her knee did not improve; and she ended up as an emergency in the hospital and died. Is that right?<\/p><p>FRANK FRAZIER (knocking his chair over backwards): Objection, Your Honor! Counsel is haranguing the witness again. He is clearly flouting your orders, Your Honor. I ask that the jury be instructed to disregard these uncalled-for remarks.<\/p><p>JUDGE: Sustained. The jury will disregard defense counsel\u2019s last remarks, and I must caution you, counsel, against any further outbursts like that.<\/p><p>COUNSEL: Your Honor, I withdraw the remarks.<\/p><p>Alan eased himself out of bed, thankful that Karen was now asleep. \u201cBastard!\u201d he mumbled, forgetting that the entire scene had been a construct of his imagination. But that, he reflected, is what twenty years of marriage to a lawyer does to you: You become an expert on courtroom shenanigans \u2015 including the calculated inappropriate statements that the jurors are told to pretend they never heard. Well, thanks to Sara Walsh, his therapist, his mind no longer resorted to obscure dreams to reveal his inner fears; now he could suffer in full consciousness.<\/p><p>He heated a cup of stale coffee. All right, the details of the cross-examination were invented. But the facts on which it was based were not. He was not prepared to expose himself even to the defendant doctors, who knew Eden\u2019s history.\u00a0 As for their attorneys, they would tear him to shreds in their own way. No, he was in no position to cast the first stone.<\/p><p>He would keep putting Karen off, hoping that her lust for revenge would dissipate.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-cc99080 noprint e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"cc99080\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-40d27fea elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"40d27fea\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div><a href=\"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/edensgarden\/chapter-27\/\">&lt;&lt; Chapter 27<\/a><\/div>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-14ad30d2 elementor-widget__width-initial elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"14ad30d2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><a href=\"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/edensgarden\/chapter-29\/\">Chapter 29 &gt;&gt;<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PART III \u201cI\u2019m terribly sorry about Eden. I hope you didn\u2019t feel pressured to come back so soon.\u201d \u201cI couldn\u2019t stand that empty house any more. Karen\u2019s also gone back.\u201d Gilda nodded. She turned to the patients in the waiting room. \u201cDoctor Avery\u2019s had a death in the family.\u201d There was a general murmur of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":21,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-318","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/318","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/318\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":838,"href":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/318\/revisions\/838"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/21"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/herbheineman.com\/Eden\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}