Richard Connelly paced back and forth in his office, while his son sat in one of the chairs next to his desk and watched. Richard’s shoes clack lightly on the floor as he walked, and his normally impeccable appearance had become sullied by the anger and concern he felt over the situation; he had discarded his suit jacket on a table, rolled up his sleeves and loosened his tie. Steve sat there nervously, too, not daring to break the silence.

“So you’re saying she might not take the settlement?” Suddenly Richard stopped abruptly and leaned heavily on his son’s chair.

Steve gulped. “I’m not sure. Her sister was just telling her to read everything very carefully.”

“Bah!” Richard threw up his hands. “You told me she would like it!”

“I thought she would! I didn’t count on her sister being there. She doesn’t even live here; she’s from Los Angeles. I had no idea she’d stick around this long.”

“That doesn’t matter. All that matters now is finding a way to keep all of this quiet. Do you know what will happen if anyone — anyone — finds out?” Richard clenched his teeth and spoke with such force that it frightened Steve. It was a rhetorical question. The hospital would be subject to endless lawsuits and federal investigations. It would destroy the careers of everyone in leadership positions — he included. Steve had planned on learning hospital policy and procedure from the ground up, posing as an intern from the very beginning, which is how he met Jenn. Now that he had been thrown into the mess that was the cover-up of a scandal, he knew his own future was on the line.

The one thing Steve’s father couldn’t understand was Steve’s love for Jenn. Despite everything they’d been through together, Steve knew his relationship with Jenn was still strong; she cared for him and depended on him. Although their official relationship had only been in the books for a few weeks, he already felt deeply committed to her.

Then, as if he was reading Steve’s mind, Richard spoke again. “How long have you and this girl been dating, again? A few weeks?” Steve nodded. “Is there anything you can do to, you know, help?”

“What do you mean?”

“Help. Take it to the next level. Make her think you really want the best for her.”

Steve felt the rising warmth of anger rising in his chest. “I really do want the best for her, Dad!”

Richard raised his hands in mock celebration. “Even better! Then take it to the next level. What can you do to promise her this is the right action for her?”

“But it’s only been a few weeks...”

“I don’t care, Steve. Find something. Pledge yourself to her. Get one of those purity rings or something.”

“Uh, Dad, I don’t think purity’s an option at this point.”

Richard glared at his son. “Then do something to show how committed you are to her,” he said. “We need her to take this settlement. Tell her I’ll— I’ll even bump up the cash from $300,000 to $500,000. We need this to end. Now.”

Steve got the message. The next day, when he paid Jenn a visit, his heart was practically beating up into his throat, he was so nervous about talking to Jenn about his father’s ideas. He put on his best poker face and gave Jenn a fierce kiss and a tight hug. “Is Kenzie here?” he asked nonchalantly after a moment.

“No, she went with my parents to the store. Why?”

“Oh, no reason. Listen, I have to ask you something.” Steve took both her hands and gazed fondly into her eyes.

Jenn’s heart started to beat faster. What is? No. It’s not what I think it is.... “Steve, don’t....” Her boyfriend shushed her. “No, listen, I think it’s time. Will you— will you be my girlfriend?” He pulled out a small black box from his jacket pocket and opened it to reveal a beautiful silver-chained necklace with a blue-green gem on the end of it.

Jenn was surprised. That’s not what I was expecting. “Um, aren’t we already dating?”

“Well, yeah, but I thought girls liked that sort of fancy gesture. And I wanted to do something nice for you.”

Jenn smiled. “Aww, thank you, honey,” she said, standing on her tiptoes to give him a kiss on the cheek. “This is really sweet. And of course I’ll be your girlfriend.” She laughed. “I thought that was a given.”

Steve smiled and led Jenn to the kitchen table, where he sat her down first and then took his own seat. “Listen, I have some great news. My father said he’d up the settlement amount to $500,000. What do you think? Have you had a chance to read through everything yet?”

Jenn shifted uncomfortably. “Listen, Steve, about that.”

Uh oh, he thought, this isn’t going to be good.

I read the whole thing and I’m just not sure about the settlement. I just don’t know about never being able to talk about it ever again, you know? It was such a huge thing, and I— well, I can’t make that promise. You understand, right?”

Goddamn it, Kenzie. Steve knew Jenn would have been much more likely to agree to his father’s proposal prior to the conversation with her sister. He filled with immediate frustration, but he forced a smile and nodded. “Sure, I do, Jenn. You know I want what’s best for you.” He clasped his hands together on the table. “Think of it this way, though. A lawsuit could take months, years, even, and it’ll be a long process. I just don’t want to see you keep hurting by having to bring everything up repeatedly. Don’t you want to leave all this behind you?”

Jenn was quiet for a moment. In a way, Steve was right. Jenn barely had a concept of time at this point, since every day ran together — some days she lived in the present, other days she was stuck in the nightmares of the past. It was absolutely true that if she chose to pursue legal action, what had already been a long year at St. Benedict Regional Medical Center would turn into an even longer one, and last longer than a year, probably. She did want to leave everything behind her and move on with her life, but she couldn’t fathom how to begin that process. It still was all too new, too raw for her to comprehend. If there was a way to forget anything had ever happened to her, Jenn might have taken it. Maybe taking the settlement and leaving would be the best thing to do. But —

“No,” Jenn said firmly.

“What?” Steve was taken aback. He leaned back against his chair and crossed his arms, in shock.

“No, I don’t want to leave everything in the past.” Jenn’s voice had hardened. She rose from her chair and stood tall. “Everything that happened in the past is what made my present a living hell, Steve. I can’t leave that behind. It’s a part of me now.”

Steve couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Jenn had never raised her voice around him. While he gaped at her, she stood up and started pacing around the kitchen.

Jenn wasn’t sure what had gotten into herself, either; all she knew was she was fired up and was starting to feel good again. “I have to tell people about what happened to me, Steve. You don’t understand. How am I going to survive without talking about it? How can I move on? I can’t change what happened to me, but it changed me. I can use it to help change others. If people know about this, then— then—“Jenn floundered for words. “It can never happen again.”

Steve stared. “But, Jenn, the money. That’s a lot of money. Think about how much you’d save by just settling with us.”

“With us?” Jenn’s eyes slowly started filling with tears. “So you and the hospital are an ‘us’ now?” Then she understood what Steve was saying, and she clapped a hand over her mouth in disgust. “You just want me to take the money and leave, so you can ride your dad’s coattails. You don’t care about me at all.”

Steve tried to stand and comfort Jenn, but she started crying. Her breathing picked up, and her nose began to run. She was in hysterics, slowly putting more of the pieces together. Then she looked down in horror at the necklace Steve had just given her. “This was a setup, wasn’t it? Just something to shut me up.” Jenn pulled it off her neck angrily; the small links broke easily.

“No, baby, listen—“

“No, I don’t want to talk to you anymore. Get out.”

“Jenn—“

“Leave. Now.”

Steve took two steps backward, in shock, but he obliged, and walked out to his car with rage in his steps. How dare she? How dare she blow off all the things this hospital has done for her?

Inside, Jenn was breathing erratically, and tears were flowing freely down her face. She put her hands level on the kitchen table, but she couldn’t stop them from shaking. Frustrated with everything happening in her life, she suddenly looked up again and slammed one closed fist down hard on the table, letting out a yell. Then she did the first thing she could think of: she picked up the phone and called Andrew.