After setting up plans to reconnect after Brian submitted his security evaluation and budget, they disconnected the call. The second he put the phone down, concern about Emma flooded back.
“Good God,” he murmured, wondering if he could handle this potentially complicated engagement requiring interfacing with other security people while dealing with the stress of worrying about what Emma’s status might be in mid-October and without her business input. Personal Protection LLC had always been something they were to do together, but Brian would have to find a way to fare on his own.
Chapter 6
August 20
It was after one o’clock in the afternoon when Brian and Juliette started walking home from the Emerson Playground. It wasn’t far, only five or six blocks. Try as he might, he had been unable to get Juliette to do anything at the playground. Instead, she sat with Brian on a park bench holding Bunny, content to watch the other children play. To Brian she seemed completely out of character, acting listless and disinterested. Eventually he ran out of things to talk to her about, especially since he had admitted early on that he didn’t know when Emma would be coming home from the hospital.
“We’re home,” he called out the moment they entered the front door. In response, Camila quickly emerged from the dining-room-cum-office to welcome them as they took off their shoes.
“How was your time at the playground?” Camila asked Juliette with forced positivity. “Did you have fun?”
“I want to watch cartoons,” Juliette declared, ignoring the question and heading for the kitchen.
Brian and Camila exchanged a concerned glance. “She’s not happy,” he mouthed. “She didn’t want to play with the other kids.”
“It was the same this morning at Isham Park,” Camila said with resignation. “I’ll see if I can interest her in a bite of lunch.”
“Any communication from Calvin Foster’s people while I was out?”
“Yes, there’s an email with the venue address and a preliminary guest list. There was also a call from the hospital.”
“Really? Was it one of the doctors?” Brian asked nervously.
“No,” Camila said. “It was a Roger Dalton from the hospital business office. He requested a call back as soon as you can. I left his direct-dial number on your desk.”
“The business office?” he questioned. He felt relieved but curious. “What do they want?”
“He didn’t say. He just said for you to call. Apparently, it is something important.”
Brian nodded. He couldn’t imagine what it was about since he’d already spoken with Maria Hernandez and had signed the admission papers. Sitting at his desk and with the number in hand, he took out his cell phone and dialed. The line was answered quickly by a commanding, whiskey-baritone voice with a strong New York accent. Brian identified himself and mentioned that he’d gotten the message to call.
“Yes, thank you for getting back to me,” Roger said. “I’ve been assigned as the case manager for Emma Murphy. A problem has developed. I think it is best if you come into the hospital, so that we can discuss it in person.”
“What kind of a problem? Is Emma okay?” Brian asked urgently.
“It’s a problem with your health insurance coverage.”
“I gave all the appropriate information to Mrs. Hernandez and signed the admission papers. Have you spoken with her?”
“This is not about Emma Murphy’s admission to the hospital,” Roger said. “It’s about her visit yesterday to our Emergency Department, and I need to speak to you directly to set up a payment plan.”
“What are you talking about? What kind of ‘payment plan’?”
“I can explain it far better in person. I see that you live here in Inwood, so it shouldn’t be too much of an imposition for you to come in? I will be here all afternoon.”
Suddenly Brian realized the line had been disconnected and that the man had hung up. With a sense of impatience, he put the phone down. He didn’t know whether to feel irritated or concerned, and what tipped the balance was a mild worry about the possible impact on Emma’s treatment if he didn’t comply. He didn’t think that would really happen, but the mere thought of it made him decide not to make an issue of the situation. Instead, he got up, told Camila that he had to return to the hospital to visit the business office, and set off.
As Brian entered through the main entrance, he could see multiple ambulances pulled up to the ED dock. The main lobby was moderately full, and he had to wait for his turn at the information desk. From his time at the hospital when he’d done off-duty patrolman work, he knew where the hospital administration offices were, but he didn’t know if Roger Dalton’s business office would be there as well. He found out quickly enough that it was.
Moving from the impressively renovated but cold marbled lobby into the admin section of the hospital was a stark transition. Now footsteps were muffled with carpet and the forest-green walls were hung with real art. To him the area looked more like a prosperous international corporation rather than the nerve center of a city hospital. There was even a glass-fronted conference room with a large mahogany library table and captain’s chairs that looked to Brian more like it belonged in a bank. Next to the conference room was what he assumed was the hospital’s CEO’s office, outfitted as impressively as the conference room. As a police officer, he’d met the hospital president at the time, a doctor who had transitioned to administrative work, but Brian knew that had changed when the Inwood Community Hospital was purchased by the Manhattan Memorial Hospital corporation eight years earlier and became MMH Inwood. Under new management, it had undergone a major makeover before officially joining the ranks of the hospital chain.
Asking directions from one of the many secretaries, he quickly found Roger Dalton’s office, but then he had to wait for a time while Roger finished with someone else. Finally, after nearly twenty minutes, Dalton appeared in his office’s doorway and beckoned for Brian to enter.
Brian’s first impression was that Roger Dalton didn’t look anything like his imposing baritone voice implied. Instead of a commanding figure, he was a tall, thin man whose sports jacket looked more like it was draped over a metal hanger than over a pair of shoulders. His face behind his mask looked haggard, and he had deeply set eyes behind heavy-rimmed glasses. With slicked-back hair streaked with gray, he looked like a man who was either a heavy smoker and drinker or battling a serious illness.
“Thanks for coming,” Roger began while taking his seat behind his desk and directing Brian to a chair front and center. “You’re probably wondering why I insisted you come in. I’m afraid I have some bad news for you.”
Although Brian knew from his call that Roger wasn’t talking about Emma, for a second his heart stopped until Roger added: “... your insurance carrier, Peerless Health Insurance, has declined to cover your wife’s $27,432.88 Emergency Department bill.”
“You have already heard from Peerless?” Brian asked. He was astounded by Roger’s comment on many levels, but for the moment the speed with which it had been discovered that Peerless wasn’t paying took precedence. Emma had only been admitted yesterday, and he assumed the insurance matters took weeks, if not months.
“Yes, we have,” Roger said. “As you might be aware, hospitals are being financially stressed through this pandemic. Our usual major sources of operating income such as elective surgery have been curtailed, forcing us to be strict in other areas, particularly the ED, whose operating costs are enormous. I was distressed when I saw that your carrier was Peerless. Our experience with them has been difficult at best, so I wanted to file the claim as soon as possible. True to form, they let us know immediately they were declining the claim, which I’m afraid to say is their normal modus operandi. It seems Peerless often finds creative ways of avoiding paying claims.”