Free First Do No Harm (Benjamin Davis Book Series, Book 1) by A. Turk Page B

a dollar too and agreed he could be his new “junior associate.”
    The disappointed fishermen decided to call it a day, and Davis rowed them to the bank. They rarely ended their outing without bringing in at least a couple of good-sized fish. Jake was the most disappointed of all.
    Looking confused, Caroline met them and asked, “Dad, where are the fish?”
    He replied, “Well, Morty decided he wanted to take us to the Loveless Café for supper tonight. What do you think?”
    Excited, she ran to tell her mother and Sammie.
    At the café about an hour later, the family had their favorite dishes, including the house specialty: fried chicken, biscuits, and jam. They talked about everyday family things, not a word about law or legal cases. Jake told silly jokes that kept everyone laughing. It had been a good family day for all of them.
    Davis decided to wait to tell Liza and Sammie the good news about his “new” senior and junior associates until they got in the car for the ride home. He knew they would be pleased; he certainly was.

CHAPTER NINE
A SISTER’S HELP
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1992
    Laura arrived at Davis’s office ten minutes early. She had made arrangements for him to contact her mentor, Sister Leslie Carson. Davis was to place a conference call and interview Sister Carson as a potential expert witness. Sister Carson’s testimony would criticize the hospital’s credentialing of Herman and English. She would also speak to the failure of the Plainview committee system to stop the repeated acts of malpractice by Herman and English.
    Laura had worked closely with Sister Carson during her residency at Saint Francis Hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Carson was the president and administrator of Saint Francis and reported directly to the Board of Trustees as to hospital matters and to Mother Superior Paula Nash as to spiritual matters.
    Saint Francis was a 250-bed, not-for-profit hospital. Because Sister Carson also sat on each of the medical committees that supervised the various functions of the hospital, she worked very closely with the medical staff. She was also responsible for the credentialing of all new physicians. She was an active member of the American Association of Hospital Administrators and the American Association of Healthcare Executives. With her background, Sister Carson’s testimony would bevery damaging against Plainview Community Hospital for its part in the conspiracy.
    When Laura arrived at Davis’s office, Bella greeted her with a Diet Coke and sat across from her in reception. Bella was almost six feet tall and had an ample bosom. Laura guessed she was in her early sixties.
    “Are you a native Nashvillian, Ms. Rosario?”
    “Please, call me Bella. No, I’m originally from New Jersey. I moved to Nashville in fifty-nine with my husband, Tony, and our three children. It has been a great place to raise a family.
    “I’ve been Mr. Steine’s secretary for thirty-three years, long before Mr. Davis joined us in 1975. I suppose you know that Mr. Steine is a legend in his own time. He has a marvelous reputation as a lawyer, not the least for his leadership in the civil rights movement and in helping singers gain power from the recording companies by becoming their own publishers. But even before he started the practice of law, he made his mark as a fighter pilot, first for the RAF and, then after Pearl Harbor, for the US Army Air Corps. He still flies today.”
    Changing the subject, Bella asked, “Where are you from, Doctor?”
    Laura felt right at home with this woman who was everyone’s mother personified. She took a sip of her Diet Coke and explained her background and heritage.
    “I’m from West Fargo, North Dakota. My father emigrated from India with his brother in 1948. My mother is American. My parents, with my uncle and aunt, own a Howard Johnson motel and restaurant. My dad and uncle run the motel, and my mother and aunt run the HoJo’s restaurant. My three cousins and I took