Phyllis smiled. "I'll be here for the rest of the week. I'm staying at my father's home, just down the road. The center is wonderful and long overdue. You're to be congratulated."
Sam hurried to Room 2, waving good-bye as he entered the room. Phyllis turned to her father, "Dad, how long has Sam been back? I thought the center was only recently opened."
"He returned a few weeks ago. He's a good man.
He completed his vision quest and will be the tribe's new medicine man when Strong Medicine decides it's time. I like him and the children need someone they can trust. It's so much better for them to be treated here, rather than in Blythe. Before the casino money came to the tribe's rescue, I know of many children whose parents just couldn't afford to make the trip and the children suffered. Come, let's go home. It's time for lunch."
It was late when Sam finished with his last patient. He was scheduled to meet Strong Medicine after work and Sam hurried to his home to continue his studies with the medicine man. "Sam, you are very late. It makes it hard to teach you the ways of the ancient ones when you work such long hours. What happened to cause you to be so late?"
Sam sat down and turned to him. "I don't know how much longer I can do this. I know it's only been a few weeks, but it's getting worse by the day as the practice grows. I can't be both the director of the center and at the same time, the only doctor on the staff. I must have been crazy to have thought I could do both jobs at the same time. However, I have an idea which would solve the problem. Today, Phyllis Chee and her father came to the center to look at it. She's visiting from Phoenix, where she works for a hospital. She graduated with a degree in Medical Management. I don't know much about her, but wouldn't it be great if she could be the director and I would be free to fully devote myself to the children as well as to your teachings?
"I don't know if she would even be interested and the Council would have to approve it. I'm sure she would demand a sizable salary. What do you think?"
Sam hoped that Strong Medicine would agree with him. He found himself hoping even more that the beautiful young woman was unmarried and would be interested in the job. He didn't think he'd seen a wedding ring on her finger.
Strong Medicine looked at Sam. "My son, one of the things that I have taught you is that there are no mistakes. Phyllis came to the center at the moment you were overwhelmed with work. Do you think that was a coincidence? Of course not. The Great Spirit put her there to help you. I will convince the Council that this is necessary and hopefully, she will soon be our new director. All things happen for a reason. Learn from this."
Strong Medicine acted quickly. The next morning, he called an emergency meeting of the Tribal Council and proposed that Phyllis Chee be offered the job as director of the pediatric center, starting immediately. He explained how Sam needed to be able to devote himself to his patients and the teachings he was learning from Strong Medicine. Strong Medicine told the Council that he felt his own time on earth was coming to an end and soon he would be joining their ancestors. He needed to finish his teachings with Sam and he couldn't do it if Sam was working late at the clinic and too tired to continue learning the ancient ways. Strong Medicine was eloquent in his presentation. The Council immediately approved his request to offer the job of director of the pediatric center to Phyllis. As soon as they voted, Strong Medicine called Sam and told him. At lunchtime, the two of them walked over to the see Phyllis and her father.
Phyllis answered the knock on the door. "Please come in. This is a welcome surprise. Strong Medicine, it's good to see you. It's been too long." She walked to the back of the trailer and called out, "Father, we have guests. Dr. Sam and Strong Medicine are here."
They sat down in the small living room. Even though Phyllis’ father received over $300,000 annually, he had never bothered to replace the brownish-grey threadbare sofa and chairs or the worn living room rug. Everything was as it had been when his wife was alive. She died shortly after the casino was built. The doublewide had a feeling of a time gone by, a place lost to memories.
When Phyllis returned to the front room with her father, Strong Medicine began to speak. "Phyllis, the reservation is your home even though you have been a part of the western world for many years, first when you were in college and then with your work at the hospital in Phoenix. This morning I called a special meeting of the Tribal Council and they would like to offer you the job of director of the pediatric center. Sam has too much work to do. He can't be a doctor, a director, and a medicine man-in-training. It's too much. We want you to be the director. You would work with Sam, but running the center would be entirely your responsibility. If you agree, we would like you to start as soon as possible."
Strong Medicine looked closely at Phyllis, who was clearly stunned by the offer. Obviously, she had never even considered the possibility of becoming the director of the pediatric center. She and her father had taken a tour of it simply because her father knew that anything related to medicine interested her. Phyllis wished she could answer immediately, but first she needed to make phone calls.
"Would you give me a couple of days? I need to talk to some people and think about this. I am truly honored you would consider me for the position and I will get back to you no later than day after tomorrow. Will that be all right?" Phyllis asked.
Sam turned to her and spoke softly. "I think we would work well together. It's a chance for both of us to help our tribe, our people. Please think seriously about this. I really hope that you'll accept the position."
She looked at the earnest plea in Sam's eyes and realized not only how dedicated he was to his people and his medicine, but also how very attractive he was, something that she had never previously considered. Her eyes slid down to his wedding ring finger. There was no ring. She knew she would take the position. It was just a matter of arranging a few things.
As Sam and Strong Medicine stood at the front door of the run-down trailer getting ready to leave, Strong Medicine suddenly turned to Phyllis and placed his hands on each side of her face and said, "My child, it's time for you to come home. Your people need you."
The next morning when Sam arrived at the clinic, he was amazed to see Phyllis waiting for him at the locked front door. She turned to him, gracing him with a smile that radiated warmth. "Please show me my new office. I resigned from the hospital yesterday. I offered to give two weeks' notice, but they generously told me if I would give up my two weeks' severance pay, I could start here at the center immediately, so here I am. I do have a few loose ends that I have to tie up in Phoenix. I'll go there this weekend to pack up the things in my apartment. I've also given notice there. The apartment manager was very gracious about it. She said there was a waiting list and she could rent it immediately. It's rather amazing how it all worked out, don't you think?" Phyllis asked.
Sam thought of Strong Medicine and how he had told Sam there were no coincidences. Clearly, he had much to learn from this wise old man. Sam vowed to speed up his teachings with Strong Medicine. They were very important and he was looking forward to it. He was also looking forward to working with this attractive, intelligent young woman. "Where will you live?" Sam asked. "I hope it's fairly close to the center, as emergencies do happen."
Phyllis replied, "When I drove onto the reservation yesterday, I noticed that there were some condos being built just down the road. I was surprised, as I don't remember ever seeing any building of that type on the reservation before. Yesterday, after I talked to you and Strong Medicine, I bought one. It will be finished in a few weeks. My father's trailer is too small for me to live there for very long and quite frankly, I find it sort of depressing. My mother had a way of making everything bright and cheery. My father misses her so much that the trailer has become a shrine to her. I need to be surrounded by things that represent happiness, actually something like what you've done here at the center. Everything just seemed to work out. I still can't believe it. Let's get started."
Phyllis noticed that there were a number of mothers with sick childr
en who were standing a respectful distance apart from Sam and Phyllis. They obviously were waiting to see the doctor and it was very apparent that Sam was idolized by the mothers and children.
Sam unlocked the door, feeling as if the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. He didn't need to worry any more about staffing, payroll, forms, scheduling, etc. He was free to do what he did best, care for and treat sick children.
CHAPTER 9
Sidney, the president of Moore Scientific Laboratories, was in a state of shock upon hearing what Dan had told him about the security breach of his gifted employee, Jeffrey Brooks. As soon as Dan left Sidney's office, he called the in-house counsel for Moore Labs, Peter Lincoln. "Peter, could you come to my office at once? It's important and I need your advice. We may have a major catastrophe on our hands."
Peter Lincoln, a tall, greying, 50ish-looking lawyer, had been with Moore Labs for twelve years. An impeccable dresser, Peter was one of the few men who could get by with always sporting a folded pocket square, which matched his tie, in the breast pocket of his suit coat. He lost no time in getting to Sidney's office. As he stepped out of the elevator on the sixth floor, he thought something must really be important. In the twelve years he had been with Moore Labs, he had never been summoned to Sidney's office. His department dealt mainly with contracts and other legal aspects of the company. His curiosity was aroused as he stepped into the reception area. Monica immediately ushered him into Sidney's office.
"Thanks for getting here so fast, Peter," Sidney began. "An unimaginable breach of trust has taken place that could have far-reaching consequences for Moore Labs. I need to have a very clear understanding about Moore's potential liability in this matter and what we need to do to prepare ourselves.”
“What has happened? You’ve never asked me to come to your office. How can I help?” Peter said.
"I have just been told by a very trusted and reliable employee that Jeffrey Brooks, the brilliant young man who discovered the anti-aging hormone, which we have submitted for approval to the FDA, has been injecting the hormone into his wife for some time. I can't believe a man of his talent and intellect, someone who many of us expect will garner the Nobel Prize for his efforts, would be so stupid.”
“Wait a sec,” Peter said. “That’s clearly a violation of our standards and to my knowledge; none of our other scientists has ever done anything like this. Are you sure?”
“Yes, Jeffrey's wife admitted to my source that Jeffrey was doing this after my source happened to see a Moore Labs vial in her purse. I don't need to tell you that this is not only illegal, but just as important; it is completely against our company policy. I am going to have to fire both of them, but first there are some things I need to know.”
Sidney continued, "I need to be sure of our legal position and I need to know his legal position. It is my understanding that the hormone he discovered is the legal property of Moore Labs. Office rumors say that he has been courted by several other drug companies, but I believe that we own the formula because of the contract he signed when he started with us. My concern is that he will go to one of those drug companies or a drug company in some foreign country and sell the formula to them. Other countries don't have the long approval waiting periods we have here in the United States and the drug could be sold in another country within the year, completely undercutting Moore Labs. I don't need to tell you what a nightmare that would be for our company and its stockholders who have been waiting for FDA approval for some time. Obviously, I need some advice and I need it fast.”
“That is my understanding as well, but I’ll need to see the contracts he signed when he became an employee of Moore Labs. Do you have them?” Peter asked.
"I had Monica go to HR and get Jeffrey's personnel file. All the documents that he signed when he was hired by Moore Labs are in it. Take a look and tell me what you think. Here's the file."
Peter opened the large manila file folder Sidney handed him and began reading, trying to ignore Sidney, who was nervously pacing back and forth in the large office. Thirty minutes later, Peter closed the file.
"Well, it's just as you thought. Jeffrey did sign a confidentiality agreement, a non-competition contract, and a contract regarding experiments. The last one, regarding experiments, is the one that provides that all discoveries are the legal property of Moore Labs. However, the problem is trying to enforce these contracts. If it's true that he has violated the contracts, and you seem certain that he has, you could sue him,” Peter said.
“If we sue him, can you imagine the adverse publicity we would get? I don’t think that our stockholders and investors would be very happy about that. I also wonder if the questions that would surround the hormone would slow down FDA approval. That would make the stockholders and investors even angrier,” Sidney responded.
Peter continued, “It would be very hard to extradite him from another country if he leaves the United States and then sells the formula in that country. Plus, litigation over ownership of his discovery would probably tie the hormone up in the courts for a long time, which would not sit well with Moore Labs' investors.”
“Well,” Sidney said, “If you were me, what would you do? After all, this is what I pay you for.”
"You're probably not going to like my advice. I'm looking at this from a practical standpoint as well as a legal standpoint. Legally, you win. Practically, you lose. Why don't you offer him a large sum of money and get him to leave Moore Labs? It's going to cost him the Nobel Prize either way. If what he has done is ever released to the public, the Nobel Committee will never award him the prize because he violated the terms and conditions of his employment. The Nobel Committee will never allow itself to become involved in a scandal. Unfortunately, because a company cannot receive the prize, only an individual can and no more than three at that, Moore Labs will not receive the publicity you were hoping to get if Jeffrey won."
Peter went on. "If he leaves Moore, the company still owns the anti-aging hormone and he won't be eligible for the award because he doesn't own the hormone. Is my proposed solution perfect? No, but under the circumstances, it may be the best one for everyone. Don't you have access to some kind of slush fund so no one would know what has happened? One that wouldn't involve other people? Moore would simply release a statement that, due to health reasons, Jeffrey decided to take an early retirement. It happens all the time. Is it the end of his career? Probably, but he's the one who made the choice."
Sidney didn't like to be put in a box, particularly one drawn by an employee. However, the more he thought about it, Peter's recommendation of an out-of-court settlement did provide a solution to a potentially devastating situation. This way, no one would ever know what really happened. After the initial statement and story, the press would no longer be interested and Moore would retain all its rights to the hormone.
Sidney wondered how much money he'd need to pay Jeffrey to silence him. As the president of the company, he knew there was a large fund for just such a contingency. Not surprisingly, he was the only one who had access to it. The more he thought about the plan, the more convinced he became that it might just work.
"Thanks for your counsel. Naturally, I don't want any of this conversation repeated. It's probably just as well that I don't tell you what I have decided to do. Under the circumstances, I think the less even you know; the better. This is a very delicate situation and I need to act fast. I'm worried about collateral damage and all that. Monica will see you out."
Sidney spent the next few hours developing his strategy and at four o'clock that afternoon, he asked Monica to call Jeffrey's secretary and have Jeffrey come to his office at five.
CHAPTER 10
It was just getting dark when Jeffrey rode the elevator up to the sixth floor. He entered the luxurious reception area, noting the Granville Redmond painting on the wall directly across from the window, which provided a panoramic view of Saddleback Mountain to the east and the blue Pacific to the west. Monica asked him
to be seated, said Sidney would be with him shortly, and went into his office to let him know that Jeffrey had arrived.
Monica had been with Sidney for twenty years. As his first employee, she had seen the spectacular growth of the company. Sidney had changed from a bespectacled pharmacist to a powerful captain of industry. Although Monica was extremely well-compensated, to look at her one would never know it. Her clothes had not been in style for many years, her hair was a mousy brown-grey, and she wore no make-up other than lipstick. The overall effect made her look as if she still belonged on the Midwest farm she left when she was eighteen years old. Monica had never married and was devoted to Sidney and the company. He was her life. She knew as much as Sidney did about the company he had founded.
Sidney said, "Monica, I want you to sit in on this meeting. I am going to have to fire Jeffrey Brooks. The reasons will become clear during the meeting. I know I don't need to ask you not to divulge to anyone what takes place in the meeting, but I feel better for having said it. This is probably not going to be pleasant, but it needs to be done and it needs to be done now. When we're finished, I want you to draw up a statement that our communications office can send to the press, but run it by me first. Now, please show Jeffrey in."
Jeffrey was surprised to be summoned to Sidney's office. This was a first for him. He couldn't think of any reason why Sidney Moore would want to see him. Things were on hold with his anti-aging hormone while they waited for approval by the FDA. He had many other experiments and tests underway, but nothing that would merit a summons to Sidney's office. He called Maria and told her he'd meet her in her office after meeting with Sidney. She, too, thought it was strange that Sidney had asked Jeffrey to meet with him, but decided it was probably something as simple as finding out how his experiments were coming along. She had heard that Sidney regarded Jeffrey as "the number one scientist" in a company where there were many fine scientists.
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