I clicked the pen open. Then I set it down. “Before I sign, Preston, I want to make sure I understand the patient you’re referring to. Mr. Alden, room 412? The one who coded last Tuesday?” His smile tightened. “Don’t play dumb, Dr. Reyes. You ordered the wrong dosage. It’s all in the chart.” I nodded slowly, reaching into my coat pocket. “Funny thing about that chart. I pulled the original timestamps this morning. The dosage order was changed at 2:47 a.m. — from a terminal in your office. Mr. Alden survived, by the way. No thanks to whoever tried to bury my name in his file.” The color drained from his face like someone had pulled a plug. I placed a thin manila folder on the desk beside his resignation letter. “This is a copy. The originals are with the hospital’s compliance board, the state medical review panel, and a very enthusiastic journalist at the Tribune who’s been asking about your nephew’s miraculous board scores.” Preston stood up so fast his chair hit the wall. “You little —” The door opened behind me. Two members of the hospital board walked in, followed by a woman in a gray suit holding a badge. “Dr. Hale,” she said evenly, “we’d like to talk to you about a pattern of falsified incident reports going back four years.” I picked up his resignation letter, turned it over, and slid it back across the desk. “You can use the same pen,” I said softly. “It writes beautifully.” He didn’t sign it that night. He didn’t have to. By Monday his nameplate was gone, his license was suspended, and three nurses he’d silenced over the years were finally talking. I walked back into the ICU that morning, coffee hot for once, and Mr. Alden waved at me from his bed. “Heard you had a rough week, Doc.” I smiled. “Not anymore.”
