I was shaking my head before she finished. As I did, I realized that Mia would have known about this request, but hadn’t told them about us. Why not? She was living with me now. I couldn’t take this job unless she planned to quit again. It didn’t make sense, and all the good feelings I was having about her and us went wonky.
“I know you didn’t feel supported by Dick Waterson, but we’ve accepted his resignation, and you can feel confident that you have the board’s full support.”
“Admin too,” Larry Skinner, who worked under Dick said.
“I appreciate that, but I still can’t—”
“What would it take?” Mrs. Wallace asked. “We’re prepared to make a statement to the public about your exemplary service and exoneration in Ms. Mason’s death.”
“There can’t be any statement that suggests the Mason family was at fault,” I said. “I gave my word.”
“Along with being a good doctor, you’re a decent person. I think if I was the victim of a mob, I wouldn’t be so kind,” she said.
I shrugged.
“The point is, we need you back in the ER. This town needs you.”
“Like I said, I appreciate it, but I can’t to it.” Once again, I looked at Mia, wondering if I was being a fool giving up the job I’d always wanted for her.
She bit her lower lip and her eyes were filled with emotion, but she still didn’t say anything.
“Why not? Have you accepted a position somewhere else?”
“I can’t because it will ruin my love life.”
“What?” Mrs. Wallace asked.
I didn’t know how Mia would react, but it would be out soon enough, so now was as good as time as any to let everyone know what was up.
I stood. “I’m in love with Mia Parker, and the rules state that she can’t be with a hospital staff person. So, no.” I looked at her. “I choose her.”
Her hand covered her mouth as if she was stifling a gasp. The room looked to her, but her gaze held to mine.
“Well, that’s a policy that we can change, isn’t it?” Larry said.
“It’s there for a reason. The last lawyer was fired for breaking it,” another board member reminded the others.
“What if he contracts with us. That’s how most hospitals do it anyway. We got the waiver to hire physicians because we’re rural, but we don’t have to do that way.”
“I don’t belong to a medical group,” I said. “That’s how it’s normally done. The hospital would contract with a group.”
“So be a group,” Larry said.
“I’m one person.”
“You could form your own medical corporation,” Mia said. “California law allows for one-person corporation.”
I looked at her.
“It’s not that hard. I’d help but … I’m sure Ms. Manning could.”
“Then we contract with his corporation, right?” Larry asked.
“Yes,” she said.
“Is this the answer?” I asked her. I’d already told everyone I was in love with her, it seemed like it would be okay to take this to a more personal level.
“It is an answer. Unless you don’t want to do ER work or would rather do something else. What do you want to do?”
Was that why she was unreadable before. Did she want me to make the decision based on my goals or desires? Up until this moment, I’d been sure of only one thing. I wanted Mia. Yes, I’d wanted my job back, but that had been because I’d felt shafted by Dick and my town. Now that I had the opportunity to take what I wanted, I needed to consider what that was.
It only took a moment. Like Mia, the perfect life would be to have her and to help people. Even with the emotional toll, emergency medicine could take, I wanted to do it.
“I want other doctors to have the opportunity to join my group and not be retaliated against by the hospital.” As one man, I’d have no leverage if the hospital was fucking with me again. As a group, we could negotiate better hours and pay. Maybe we could figure out a way to hire scribes to enter medical data into EMR for us, as some larger medical facilities had.
“We’d need to discuss that further, but it is something we could consider,” Mrs. Wallace said.
I stood. “Let me know.”
“That’s it? No negotiating?” Larry asked.
“You asked what it would take. That’s what it will take.” A wave of peace came over me as I realized I was in control. It was a fake sort of control. I could lose. But what mattered was that I wasn’t at the mercy of circumstances. I could lose but it would be on my terms. Not because a lazy teenage boy, a failed EMR system, an angry mob, or asshole administrator was holding me back. Feeling strong and confident that I’d come out on top no matter what happened, I turned to Mia. “I’m going to beat your dad at chess now. Is pasta okay for dinner?”
She blushed as she smiled wide. “Yes.”
I wanted to go kiss her, but I thought that might be pushing it. So, I said my goodbyes and left.
For the first time since I began hanging out with Jim, I beat him at chess.
Epilogue
Mia, Six Weeks Later
Four years ago, when I graduated from law school, Nick asked me to move back to Goldrush Lake with him. I’d declined, wanting to live in the big city instead. While I couldn’t regret the four years that I had been doing my own thing, I often felt like I’d wasted a lot of time. Today, I couldn’t imagine a better life than the one I had now. I was doing work that was challenging. I was able to see my family nearly every day. I had friends and a support system. And most of all, I had Nick. To come home to him every night felt like a dream come true.
Three weeks ago, the hospital negotiated a settlement with the Mason family. In a
