“Please go on, Dr. Chen,” said O’Mara.
“I knew Ms. Falk pretty well—our daughters go to the same day care center—so I stayed on top of her case. I looked in on Jessie about six hours later, when I was going off my shift. We talked for a while, and she was okay. She missed her little girl was all. But when I checked her chart the next day, I learned that she’d had irregular heartbeats, probably the result of conductive disturbance—and she died.”
“Doctor, did you find that unusual?”
“I thought it was unusual for a woman of Jessica’s age and physical condition.”
“And so, what did you do?”
“I called for a postmortem and a board review.”
“And what were the findings of the autopsy?”
“Somehow Jessie Falk had received epinephrine. It was not prescribed.”
“And what would be the effect of epinephrine on that type of cardiac patient?”
“Epinephrine is a synthetic form of adrenaline for God’s sake. She should have gotten lidocaine, an antiarrhythmic. That would have smoothed out her heart rate. Administering epinephrine was like giving her cocaine. It would be lethal for a cardiac patient.”
“So that’s a pretty big mistake, isn’t it, Dr. Chen? What happened when the hospital board reviewed Ms. Falk’s case?”
“Actually, no action was taken,” the doctor said, biting off his words.
“No action?”
“Well, nothing with respect to Jessie Falk, anyway. I was terminated two weeks later.”
“Because you blew the whistle?”
“Objection! Counsel is leading the witness,” Kramer said, coming to his feet.
“I’ll rephrase, Your Honor. Dr. Chen, why was your employment terminated after twelve years?”
“I was told it was for ‘budgetary reasons.’”
O’Mara dropped her head, letting the power of the doctor’s words stand without embellishment. Then she lifted her face to the witness.
“I only have one more question, Dr. Chen. Who was the doctor who admitted Jessica Falk through the emergency room?”
“Dr. Dennis Garza.”
“To your knowledge, did he conduct a follow-up exam of Mrs. Falk when she was in the ICU?”
“His signature was on the chart.”
“Thank you. That’s all I have for you, Doctor.”
Chapter 52
AS KRAMER GOT UP to cross-examine Dr. Chen, Yuki swung her head, scanning the courtroom until she found Dr. Garza three rows ahead on the aisle. That scum.
He was getting up from his seat, raking his black hair away from his forehead as he headed toward the door. Yuki’s face burned.
Where is that bastard going? Get back here, Garza. You need to listen to this!
Yuki stood, too, excusing herself, working her way across the row of knees again, stepping on toes, banging the bench-back with her briefcase.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry.”
By the time she reached the hallway, Garza was out of sight.
Yuki saw elevator doors closing. She ran forward, pressed the button, reversing the doors. But the elevator car was empty.
She arrived at the lobby in time to see the back of Garza’s navy-blue jacket, the man striding purposefully, heading away from her and out of the courthouse.