Chapter 3

"Examiner Delgado. We meet again."

The deputy director looked flushed and pleased today.

When he spoke to me.

The corner of his mouth he couldn't quite hold down was proof enough that he was in a good mood.

Maybe he figured.

That once the disciplinary inspection team from the state health authority stepped in.

The pressure would make me cave.

That I wouldn't dare keep giving Cornelia Pruitt trouble.

Pity.

He'd taken me for someone far weaker than I am.

Before I could say a word.

Asher Lawrence from the inspection team waved the deputy director into a seat.

Then his face slowly hardened.

"Roderick Delgado, every senior official at Deren Hospital has filed a joint complaint against you for abuse of authority."

"How do you explain that?"

The deputy director sat waiting for me to panic, or to start begging.

But my answer left him stunned.

"A chief examiner has full and independent authority over the evaluation."

"I found her assessment file too vague, not precise enough, with no detailed video record of the skills examination attached."

"I ruled that she failed. What's wrong with that?"

"Or am I supposed to pass her just because her father is Cole Pruitt?"

"Every department head at Deren Hospital signed the joint statement."

"Cole Pruitt himself signed a personal guarantee."

"So I have to pass her?"

"Then what's the point of an exam at all?"

"Whoever has the most power, whoever has the most influence."

"They get to ignore the rules?"

The deputy director sat there with his mouth open, staring at me in shock.

The one thing a chief examiner fears most is the inspection team.

Because the team has the authority to investigate examiners.

He never imagined.

That I would fire straight back at Asher Lawrence without holding anything back.

Asher Lawrence was a little stunned himself just then.

He sat frozen for a long moment.

Then he clapped and sneered. "A Harvard top graduate, all right. Real presence, real nerve. But don't forget."

"One word from me and you lose your standing as chief examiner."

I gave an indifferent shrug.

"As long as I'm still the chief examiner."

"Who passes and who fails."

"Is still my call."

"If you want to strip me of my examiner status."

"I suggest you convene an inspection team meeting right now, file it upward, wait for approval, and open an internal investigation into me immediately."

Asher Lawrence saw that I wasn't the least bit afraid of him.

And his face went the color of raw liver.

"Roderick Delgado, you won't give me even a shred of face?"

"Face I can certainly give."

"But it depends on the man!"

"If you're going to throw in with certain people."

"Why would I give you any face at all?"

Asher Lawrence shot to his feet and glared at me, furious. "Roderick Delgado, you're the one who sealed off your own road."

"Don't blame me for being ruthless!"

With that.

Asher Lawrence stormed off, the deputy director trailing after him.

That same day.

Word of it spread through the workplace.

The way everyone looked at me changed.

After all, an examiner who dared to go head to head with the inspection team.

I was, for the first time in anyone's memory, the very "first."

But standing my ground came at a price.

Just before the end of the day.

The deputy director called me into his office.