Just before 10 a.m., Steve Connelly stood outside a pair of tall stately doors leading to the boardroom of St. Benedict Regional Medical Center, his tall, muscular frame casting a large shadow onto its handles. Just through doors sat his father, Richard Connelly, the President and CEO of the entire hospital system, and his team of six attorneys. It was his first real business meeting as heir-apparent to the hospital empire.

Steve had been dreading it for days; his stomach churned with nausea every time he thought about facing his father after the ordeal of the past several weeks. It was too soon.

For months, Steve’s girlfriend, Jenn Walsh, had been the victim of psychological torture and sexual abuse at the hands of once-renowned nephrologist Dr. Samuel Blake. Unknown to Jenn, during her scheduled dialysis treatments for lupus-related kidney problems, Dr. Blake had used and abused her for his own sadistic sexual pleasure, impregnating her and aborting his own fetus inside her, until finally, Jenn — with Steve’s help — had figured out what was happening. At the end of it all, Dr. Blake took his own life — and ruined Jenn’s.

Now, only a week later, Steve was reeling in the aftermath, and he had to deal with the fallout from both sides. As he stood outside his father’s massive boardroom doors, he felt sick to his stomach about having to address the inevitable legal consequences so soon after Jenn’s terrible experiences. All he wanted to do was go to her, wrap her up in his arms and smother her with love and affection. He wanted nothing to do with his father now.

Nevertheless, he stood tall and pushed open the door anyway. An imposing scene met his eyes: his father sat in the middle of the conference room table, flanked by a team of six lawyers all sitting around him in their best suits. Richard Connelly stood up when he saw his son come in. “Ah, Steve, right on time. Come, sit.” He sounded so formal, as if he really was addressing his successor and not his own child. He’d always been that distant. Steve approached his spot awkwardly, hyperaware of all the eyes on him, and sat on the edge of the chair.

“We’ve been discussing our options with the situation” — Richard Connelly never described what happened to Jenn with specific language — “and I think you’ll appreciate what the lawyers have come up with.” Richard held out a stack of papers at least 30 pages high for Steve to peruse.

Steve glumly took the stack from his father and began leafing through it, his mind too distracted to read closely. “This is a lot,” he said stupidly. His father laughed.

Richard Connelly was no fool. He knew his hospital was the perpetrator of a great and terrible error in the Blake affair, and he had presided over enough scandals of various size to know he had to act fast. It had already been five business days since the discovery of the malpractice, and Richard was in full executive mode, soothing the family’s shock, apologizing for the family, vowing to make amends. The one thing he always made sure he did, however, was preserving secrecy until legal proceedings took place, if or when that happened. His team of attorneys, too, had honed their skills to a frightening degree. They had spent hours preparing this 30-page settlement; they knew every sentence, word, and comma like the back of their hands.

“Yes, it looks like a lot, but it’s actually very simple. Bill, would you mind going through it with Steve as well?”

The heavy man who sat directly to Richard’s right, and whose neck rolled over the collar of his too-tight button-up shirt, coughed twice, his cheeks jiggling, began to speak. “We know the situation is serious. We know the consequence, but we’ve prepared a package that I think will be very satisfactory to all the parties. As you can see, if you read through it, we will pay Ms. Walsh a settlement of $300,000 as well as pay all her medical fees — for lupus-related complications, of course, not everything — for the rest of her life. We just need her to sign a non-disclosure agreement and a waiver of legal liability.” Bill smiled. “It’s as simple as that.”

“We think she’ll be pleased with this deal. It’ll prevent us from any negative publicity, and it’ll prevent her from bankrupting herself with either a lawsuit or continued medical bills, and,” Richard added with a faint smile, “perhaps she’ll give us another chance.”

Steve contributed very little to the conversation; what he heard sounded logical. He knew his father, he also knew Jenn. He was certain both sides wanted to get past this as soon as possible. It would give Jenn a chance to fully recover and for the hospital to avoid an expensive lawsuit. He had not been involved in the discussions about how to address the legal aspects of the situation, but his father knew he would be key in communicating on a personal level with Jenn. The rest was up to the lawyers, who went on to explain the plan, page by page. When lunchtime rolled around, everyone in the room left satisfied that affairs were in order.

Steve wasn’t scheduled to work that day. He left immediately after the meeting to meet Jenn for lunch at her parents’ house, about an hour away from the hospital. He visited her every day since she had narrowly avoided death at the hands of Dr. Blake, and although he could see her improvement already, he knew she still had a long way to go.

Every time he rang her parents’ doorbell, he cautiously asked her mother how she was feeling before going inside. Today she greeted him with a smile — a very good sign.

He walked outside to the patio — carrying the stack of papers in his hand — to find Jenn and her older sister, Kenzie, sharing lemonade in the sunshine. Jenn’s back was to the door, so she didn’t notice when Steve arrived, but Kenzie perked up and waved at him. Jenn turned around. “Steve!” she exclaimed, hopping out of her chair; she ran over to him and pulled him close to her.

He wrapped his arms around her back and held her just as tightly.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” she said. They stood holding each other for several seconds — then from a distance, Kenzie rolled her eyes. “God, get a room,” she said, pretending to gag. Jenn and Steve broke apart, laughing. Leave it to Kenzie to provide the comic relief.

Steve pulled up a patio chair next to his girlfriend and settled in. They made small talk at first; awkward as it was — and had been — while Steve gauged her mood. Jenn was smiling. She sat in the sunshine with a hat and sunglasses on, while the warm rays came down onto her exposed arms and legs. Just visible below Jenn’s left elbow were small scars from the countless needles she had inserted there for various medicines; but none of the present company even noticed them anymore. She listened to her sister tell stories about her wild Los Angeles life and laughed often, her high-pitched voice dancing across the patio. Steve was relieved.

When there was a lull in the sisters’ conversation, Steve spoke up. “Jenn, can I talk to you in private for a second?”

Jenn looked confused. “In private? There’s no one here.” Steve looked ashamedly at Kenzie; Jenn caught on. “Anything you can say to me, you can say to Kenzie.” Steve wished Kenzie would voluntarily stand up and leave for a few moments, but Kenzie could read that in his eyes, and she raised one eyebrow at him, as if challenging him.

He swallowed. “Well, it’s just— it has to do with the settlement.”

“What settlement?” Kenzie asked.

Steve crossed his arms. This is why I didn’t want her here. “It’s really better if I talk to Jenn alone about this. She is the patient; it’s a private matter.”

Kenzie bit her lip. Patient my ass. She’s never been treated like a patient, throughout this whole thing. Kenzie was perhaps more livid about everything that had happened to Jenn than Jenn herself was. The news had torn through the family and caused panic and chaos as the tragedy it was; Jenn’s parents had immediately switched her to a different hospital, smaller, less well known, but safer. She merely closed her mouth and stared at him.

Fine, Steve thought. “Jenn and I have been talking about everything that happened, and today my dad and I met, too — well, with the hospital attorneys. They think everyone can reach a settlement and everyone will be happy.” He immediately realized the error of his word choice when Kenzie’s eyes widened. “I didn’t mean ‘happy;” I know it’s not that simple. I’m sorry, sweetie.” Steve reached for Jenn’s hand; she held his, too, but with very little strength. Then Steve motioned to the stack of papers he’d placed on the patio table. “The hospital wants to pay off all your treatment thus far and everything else for the rest of your life. Isn’t that great?”

“Oh wow, that is good news.” Jenn, now almost 26 years old, had been under dialysis treatments for going-on five years; it was old hat, but she never got comfortable with being in and out of treatment. When she was first diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease that weakens the body’s ability to fight off germs and viruses, her doctor told her the severity of the disease meant she might only have a few years to live tops. She had already overcome tremendous odds against her, but her family still expected the worst. The emotional and financial burden was already a monstrous stress on their lives; certainly, they would appreciate any assistance.

“Just sign your name here and it’s done.” Steve proffered the papers — and a pen — to Jenn.

“Is that really it?” Kenzie spoke up. “Jenn, you should read all that before you agree to it.”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Jenn said hurriedly, while her sister side-eyed her suspiciously. She reached for the papers, and her tiny arm nearly crumpled under its weight. “Wow, this is a lot.” She started to flip through the pages, skimming the legalese here and there, Kenzie eyeing it over her shoulder.

Steve laughed. “It looks a lot more complicated than it is. Basically, you get $300,000 and no medical fees for the rest of your life!” He paused. “But you do just have to agree to, you know, keep it private.”

Kenzie’s head shot up again. She started to make a retort back to Steve but changed her mind. If that’s what I think it is.... “We’ll look through this and let you know,” she said curtly. Steve was surprised — Kenzie had never acted this aloof to him before. Maybe all the legal talk had put her into an aggressive mood. Whatever it was, Jenn recognized the change in her sister’s voice immediately and decided it would be prudent to get Steve to leave. So she stood, made a lame excuse about having plans soon, and walked with Steve to the door. When she returned, she eyed Kenzie with concern. “What’s going on?”

“You need to be careful, Jenn.” Kenzie stood and inadvertently adopted her best maternal pose. “It sounded like Steve wanted you to sign a non-disclosure agreement, so you wouldn’t be able to talk about anything that happened. Which probably means you won’t be able to sue.”

“Oh, no, Kenzie, don’t start. This has already been such a long process,” Jenn started groaning, suddenly becoming whirled back into the harrowing memories of Dr. Blake and his vile experiments on her; the mere mention of legal action had put her into a fragile state. She covered her face with her hands and breathed hot air into them.

Jenn often felt strong surges of being overwhelmed; the stress of what she had been through came and went at any time with no warning. That’s why she tried to avoid putting herself into sensitive situations now, to keep her mind as clear as possible. It was inevitable that her old feelings and memories would come back. Then Jenn felt a tight grip on her arm; Kenzie reached out to her, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“Hey,” Kenzie said gently, in contrast to her hold on Jenn’s arm, “I know. Shh, I know. All I’m saying is to don’t decide anything too soon.” She paused. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but you have to remember Steve works for the hospital. He’s the CEO’s son. Of course he’s going to make it sound that easy.”

“What do you mean?” Jenn was shocked, and a little offended. She knew Steve was most likely going to take over his father’s position one day; she found out his status as a privileged child as soon as the ordeal was all over. “Steve supports me in this. He told me that.”

Kenzie crinkled her nose and bit her lip. Jenn didn’t understand her. “Just... be careful. That’s all.”

The sisters sat in silence side by side on the patio for several minutes before either spoke. Then Kenzie reached into her pocket, pulled out her cell phone, and started dialing.

“What are you doing?” Jenn asked.

“Calling someone,” Kenzie replied, distracted by the rings in her ear.

Jenn rolled her eyes. Well, obviously.

“Hello?” A distant voice sounded on Kenzie’s phone.

“Hey, Andrew, it’s Kenzie. Do you have a minute?”

“Uh, yeah, sure. What’s up?”

“I’m going to put you on speakerphone. I have a question for you.” Kenzie pressed a button on her phone and set it down. Then she introduced her sister and explained the situation and everything Steve had just told her.

Andrew Heller listened intently, sitting at his desk in his office in the city. He was rapt by what he was hearing: medical malpractice, sexual abuse, an apparent silencing, and cover-up. This was one of the most exciting cases he’d heard about.

As a recently acquired junior partner of the law firm Chapman, Hendricks and Weiss, Andrew was a relative unknown in the legal world, and considerably younger than many of the other attorneys in his office. He graduated magna cum laude in law school and had numerous job offers upon graduation. Only recently, had he moved to the city and started the job at a far more prestigious law firm, where he was slowly gaining stature in the legal world and developing a reputation. He met Kenzie while at Stanford University. She was his sister Carolyn’s roommate, and the two had kept in touch for years.

Now, listening to Kenzie tell this story, he was aghast at everything that happened to her sister and his thoughts began to race with hypothetical legal situations that could arise from what he was hearing. Then he heard Kenzie saying his name and realized the conversation had stopped.

“Sorry,” he said, clearing his throat. “Listen, I think it’s better if I talk to you both in-person about this. It sounds like this is serious and I’d like to gauge it better that way. Would you be able to meet me at my office tomorrow for lunch? You know where it is, right, Kenzie?”

Kenzie nodded. “Mmhmm.”

“Okay. See you around noon, then?”

“Sure, sounds good. Thanks, Andrew.’” Kenzie hung up the phone and turned to Jenn. “We’re going to get a real opinion about this.”

Jenn looked at Kenzie impatiently. “What was that for? Who even was that?”

“He’s my friend Andrew. I was roommates with his sister, so we were always close. He knows what he’s talking about. Oh, stop it; don’t look at me like that. I just want you to be safe.”

Jenn huffed at her sister. “Fine. Well, I’m going to go to Steve’s tonight. So I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” She walked to her car, closed the door impatiently, and sped down the road, irritated at her sister.

That night, Jenn lay in Steve’s arms; she couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened to her. She’d been able to shut it out of her mind and not think about Dr. Blake, the snakes, and the hospital, but there was always the threat of something triggering her again. Now, as she lay with him watching television, a wave of emotion overcame her and she started to cry; she tried not to let Steve notice, but her convulsions became stronger.

“Hey, hey, shhh,” he said, holding her tighter, “what’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” Jenn said between sniffles. “Just thinking about a lot.”

Steve turned her face up toward him and laid a gentle kiss on her lips. “Shh. You’re safe here. You’re fine.” He pulled away from her and leaned over her, holding her hair and running his left hand down her neck, her shoulders, and her back. He gave her progressively sweeter and softer kisses on her lips before moving down her body. Every one of his touches brought her back from the dark place in her mind, and as her tears slowed and her mood improved, she wanted him more and more. Soon the two of them were one body, moving together slowly and passionately, their fingers exploring every nook and cranny of each other. Jenn felt her anxiety vanish, and soon the pleasure of being with Steve took over.