I stood up slowly. I am six-foot-two, and in that moment, I felt like I filled the entire lobby. I turned to Brenda.
The Head Nurse was frowning now, the gears in her head turning. “I… I don’t understand. Are you her son? Mr. Miller?”
“I am Leo Miller,” I said.
Brenda gave a nervous, high-pitched laugh. “Well, Mr. Miller, you’ve arrived just in time to settle your mother’s substantial debt. We don’t appreciate the drama she’s been causing, but if you have the funds…”
“The funds?” I interrupted.
I looked at Marcus, my lead assistant standing behind me. Marcus held up a leather-bound folder.
“Nurse Vance,” I said, my voice dangerously quiet. “Ten minutes ago, the final signatures were placed on a merger between Miller Capital and the St. Jude’s Healthcare Group. As of 9:45 AM, this hospital, the land it sits on, and the equipment you use to fail your patients, belong to me.”
Brenda’s face went from pale to a sickly, translucent white. Her hand went to her throat. “That… that’s not possible. The CEO…”
“The CEO is currently in the parking lot waiting for me to decide if I’m going to fire him or just sue him into bankruptcy,” I said. I stepped closer to her, so close she had to crane her neck back. “But you… you’re a much simpler problem to solve.”
I looked at her name tag. Brenda Vance. Head Nurse.
“You slapped a patient,” I said. “You slapped my mother.”
“She was resisting!” Brenda stammered, her voice rising in a panicked pitch. “I was just trying to maintain order! She hasn’t paid, she was being delusional…”
“She wasn’t being delusional,” I said. “She told you I was coming. You just didn’t believe her because her cardigan was old.”
I turned to the security guard, Dave. He was standing perfectly still, his eyes wide.
“Dave, is it?” I asked.
“Yes, sir,” he swallowed hard.
“Dave, please escort Ms. Vance to her locker. She is to remove her personal items and be off the premises within five minutes. If she is still in the building by then, have her arrested for trespassing.”
“You can’t do that!” Brenda screamed, the mask of professionalism finally shattering into pure, ugly desperation. “I’ve been here for fifteen years! I have a contract! You can’t just fire me because of some… some old woman!”
“I didn’t just fire you, Brenda,” I said, looking her straight in the eyes. “I’m buying the debt on your mortgage from the local bank this afternoon. And tomorrow, I’m going to file a formal report with the State Nursing Board for patient abuse, supported by the security footage from that camera right above your head.”
I leaned in, my voice a whisper that only she could hear.
“By the time I’m done, you won’t even be able to get a job cleaning the floors you just tried to throw my mother out on.”
Brenda collapsed. Not a dramatic faint, but a slow, pathetic sinking to her knees, her hands catching her before she hit the floor. The lobby, which had been so silent, suddenly erupted into a low murmur of shock.
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