Page 131 of Ten Day Affair

Kip doesn't answer right away. When he does, his voice is matter-of-fact, like he's stating the obvious.

"So bring it back."

"What?"

"Bring it back. Mobile clinics aren't rocket science, Sam. You're smart, you're stubborn, and you care too much about everything. Sounds like a perfect storm for making something happen."

I stare at the phone, processing. Simple. Like it's obvious.

"Kip, did you hear me? They don't have money. Plus, Idon't know the first thing about starting a program. Not to mention, I'm just a resident. Remember?"

"So learn. You figured out surgical residency. You can figure out how to raise money. There are plenty of people who want a worthy cause to donate to. Sounds like this just needs someone to spearhead and organize. It can be your Atlanta baby."

After Kip hangs up, I sit in the break room a little longer, phone still warm in my hand.

The hum of the fridge kicks on. Somewhere down the hall, I hear a wobbly cart move around the corner.

Then I open a browser.

Mobile health program startup costs.Grants for urban community outreach.501(c)(3) registration steps.

Each search pulls up another link, another link, leading me further down my rabbit hole. The deeper I go, the more real it starts to feel. Real enough to scare me.

A sample budget includes words likevehicle maintenance,medical supply rotation, andEMR compliance. Numbers with too many zeroes. I exhale, slow and shaky.

There’s a reason no one’s done this. There’s also a reason I can’t stop looking.

I tap the screen off and set the phone face down.

I’m not ready. Not today. But the idea’s in me now, and it won’t leave.

And for the first time in weeks, it won't behimkeeping me up tonight.

THIRTY

Cole

The bottled water sits untouched on the airplane table in front of me. At forty thousand feet, everything looks removed from reality, but the screen in front of me brings it all crashing back.

Houston Enterprises CEO Orchestrated Hospital Acquisition Through Shell Company

The headline runs across the top of the Palm Beach Post's website in bold letters. Below is my photograph, the one from last year's Real Estate Weekly cover.

I scroll down, finding my own words staring back at me.

The acquisition made financial sense. King’s Holdings purchased the debt of a distressed hospital. The vote to restructure was based on operational necessity. A path to profit.

That’s the story I gave Laurel Harrelson. And that’s the one she printed.

No mention of Sam, no affair. Just facts of our business gray area, at best, and impropriety, at worst.

Cold, sharp, and clinical.

I breathe a sigh of relief that her name stayed out of it.

Sure, mine didn’t. And I didn’t protect myself or the company. I made a trade. And now the truth is out there, written in black and white and pixels, for the board, the investors, the vultures.

"You're admitting to the conflict of interest?" She'd asked me.