A Man Used to Getting His Way

"--stop in for a few minutes on a Saturday, and now I have to deal with this nuisance," complained a gray-haired man in his early fifties as he walked through the door. "I don't know why security couldn't handle it."

"The staff said there's a special circumstance, sir," responded a mousy, raven-haired young woman walking briskly at his side. While speaking, she glanced behind her to the big, burly man in a security uniform that followed them.

"Nothing but excuses. That's all I seem to hear these days from each and every one of you, Aimee," the scrawny, gray-haired continued complaining. "Now, I want this dealt with quickly. Where is this trouble--"

"You brought security with you?! You have got to be shitting me," Harvey Diamond loudly declared.

"Ha--Harvey Diamond! What a wonderful surprise," the man-in-charge said, taken aback by the presence of a valued contributor to the hospital. Turning to his side, he quietly issued an order to his assistant, "Aimee, find our unruly patient while I talk to Mr. Diamond. Take Biff with you and escort him off the grounds if need be."

The mousy assistant surveyed the situation, taking note of several of the Admitting clerks nodding their heads in the direction of the generous donor to the hospital. Aimee Seung also noticed Dr. Bridget Tarver standing off the side, watching the situation in concern. Putting two and two together, Aimee reached a horrifying conclusion.

"Harvey, it's been far too long. Early fall, I believe, at the fundraiser for our cancer ward," he started to say but noticed his assistant still at his side. "Aimee, I said go deal with our troublemaker."

"Uh, Mr. Merton, I think Mr. Diamond is--"

"Yeah, I'm the 'troublemaker,' and I can't believe you brought security, Norton. So what are you planning to have them throw me out on my ass?" Harvey challenged angrily. "I'll be sure to remember that the next time you want me to cut a check at another fundraiser."

"H-Ha-Harvey is why we were called down here?" Norton Merton, the chief administrator of Honey Hollow Medical Complex, questioned as his face blanched in horror.

"Are you planning to handcuff me too, Norton?"

"Wha--of course not, Harvey!" Merton's face, now entirely drained of blood, swung over to look at the burly security guard. "Biff, get out of here. We don't need you." Swinging back around, the chief administrator struggled to regain his composure as he imagined a stack of money going up in flames. "H-How--what seems to be the problem?"

"The problem, Merton, is that my daughter nearly died, and I want the kid that saved her to stay overnight for observation. I'm willing to pay the cost, but they won't authorize it," Harvey explained impatiently with a wave of his hand to the Admitting desk.

"Y-Your daughter?! Nearly died? What didn't anyone tell me?" Merton, his head now seemingly on a swivel, swung around looking at all the staff. Noticing a familiar face in a strange place, he blurted out her name. "Bridget? What--I don't understand."

"Bridget's son is the person that rescued my daughter and is who I want to stay overnight," Harvey further explained, on the verge of exploding again.

"Le-Leonard's son?! Why didn't anyone tell me that Dr. Leonard Tarver's son is in my emergency room? Is Leonard here?"

"I have no idea where my husband is at, Norton. Perhaps you know or could find out," Bridget remarked in frustration.

"Where Leonard is at?" The confused, overwhelmed man repeated before the light bulb turned on inside his head. "Ah, yes, Leonard is busy with our special research case. I'll get word to him right away."

"Listen, Merton, I'll explain this slow and simple to you," Harvey began as he moved to tower over the other man. "I want Sean Tarver not to be discharged. Instead, I want him kept overnight for observation. I understand that his parents' insurance will not likely approve of this extra care, and I'm willing to cover any extra cost. Send me the bill. Now, can you do that or not?"

"Keep Dr. Tarver's son overnight and send the bill to you? Of course, we can do that for the son of our star neurologist and for one of our most gracious patrons," Merton responded, getting a handle on the situation and realizing the potential benefits. "Your daughter and Dr. Tarver's son will receive our top priority. I sincerely apologize that my staff did not notify me immediately upon their arrival. I promise to get to the bottom of that."

"Don't go disciplining anyone on my account," Harvey pointed out.

"Of course! Aimee, see to it that Dr. Tarver's son is given a room upstairs. I'll stay down here to oversee any other necessary details with Mr. Diamond."

"Actually, I prefer Sean and Whitney in the same room if it's possible," Harvey suggested. "And why don't you see to it personally, Norton."

"Absolutely, I'll see to it myself," the gray-haired man nodded profusely. "Aimee, go find Dr. Tarver and notify him about his son."

"Thank you, Norton," Bridget said, noticing that the chief administrator seemed to have forgotten her presence.

The chief administrator rambled on for several more moments about how important he viewed the healthcare of Dr. Tarver and Harvey's children. His rambling small talk expanded to asking about the health of Graham and the Pierce family. Finally, after another prodding from Harvey, Merton left to oversee the transfer of Sean to a room upstairs.

"Gawd, that man is nothing but a toady. He's even worse around Dalton," Harvey remarked, still agitated over the situation. "I can't stand these administrators."

"Well, then it's a good thing you screwed up and never married my sister."

Feeling like he had been slapped in the face, punched in the gut, and kicked in the balls, Harvey stared at Bridget in shock.

"Jesus, Bridget, talk about a low blow!"

"It was either that, or I throw a glass of cold water in your face, and I don't have any cold water," Bridget replied. "I recognize this is an emotional moment, and I also appreciate your concern over Sean, but you need to get your shit together, Harv. You're unraveling at the moment. I'm not the only person down here that thought you might attack someone."

"I-I wouldn't do that."

"I know you probably wouldn't, but you looked close to doing it. Whitney needs you to keep it together. It's fine to get emotional, but don't take it out on people who are just doing their job."

"Right, right, I'm sorry, Bridget," Looking around, Harvey noticed people in the waiting room still watching him out of the corners of their eyes. "I guess I owe some apologies at the moment."

"That would be a good start. Gail likes chocolates. I'll ask around about the others," Bridget said, with Harvey nodding in agreement at her idea.

"--remind of someone, cutie. Face that makes the sun shine, and breasts that make me rise," Sean loopy on painkillers told the perky, petite blonde nurse.

"At least, he seems to be having a good time," Harvey remarked dryly from the doorway.

"Seanie, my little boy!" Bridget exclaimed as she rushed forward into Sean's new room to hug her son.

"And there's my beautiful mother. Such a pretty woman, look at--oof," Sean's likely inappropriate comments were cut off as his mother hugged him firmly.

"Hello, I'm Harvey Diamond," he said, holding his hand out to the young nurse. Despite his concern for his daughter and the string of events of the day, Harvey couldn't override his instincts to introduce himself to an attractive young woman.

"I know--I mean, I'm Libby Dall, Mr. Diamond," Libby responded, biting her lip as she met his electric-blue eyes.

"A doll she is, isn't she, Harv?" Sean piped back in from his bed. "Reminds me of Lacey except for the hair. So don't get any ideas. No taking her into another room--"

"Hush, honey. Don't embarrass yourself anymore," Bridget ordered her son, placing a hand over his mouth to muffle any more silly comments. "Libby, what are you doing on this floor?"

"Oh, right. Hi, Dr. Tarver," the petite blonde nursed greeted after prying her eyes away from Harvey. "Well, with the maternity ward nearly empty at the moment, they've been having us float to other floors. When I heard that your son was assigned down here, I requested his room."

"That's so sweet of you," Bridget said as she hugged one of the regular nurses she dealt with when her patients gave birth. "Don't mind, Sean. He's usually a nice, polite young man."

"That's okay, Dr. B. I know he's doped up," Libby said with a giggle after using the nurses' nickname for Bridget.

"See! She reminds me of Lace. Other one...like Whitney...big ol' booo..." trailed off Sean's voice until he started softly snoring.

"This should get interesting when Whitney's brought in here too," Harvey remarked, sitting down in the chair next to Sean's bed.

"Oh, let me grab his chart from the desk. I'm sure you'll want to have a look at it," Libby announced. "I'll be back in a few minutes with it."

Bridget waited until the little blonde was out of earshot. "Gawd, I don't know which of you is more embarrassing."

"Me? What did I do?"

"At least Sean has the drugs to blame. You were looking at her like a hungry wolf ready to pounce on his next meal," the blonde doctor remarked. "When I said for you to get your act together, I didn't mean start picking up every cute nurse in the hospital."

"I wasn't about to drag her off into a closet, Bee. Geesh! What kind of a father do you think I am?"

"One that seems on edge."

"Alright, I'll admit that when I get stressed out, the only thing that helps is having sex. But it's not like I'm about to jump the first hot woman that's in front of me," Harvey acknowledged.

"I certainly hope not. I'm a married woman, Harv."

His eyes widening and mouth gaping open, Harvey sputtered in protest that he would ever think of her that way. Then he noticed a small smirk forming at the corners of her mouth. "Why you--you're the same little brat that you were over twenty years ago!"

Sticking out her tongue at him, they both ended up laughing at the antics Bridget used to perform towards him when he dated Beverly all those years before. The ones that led Harvey to view her as akin to a little cousin.

"Just keeping you from getting upset again," Bridget explained.

"Thanks, I--"

"So, is everything to your liking, Harvey?" Norton Merton interrupted as he walked into the room. "Ah, here's Dr. Tarver's hero of a son."

"Yes, the room is satisfactory, Norton. Wouldn't you agree, Dr. Tarver?" Harvey asked Bridget after noticing that Merton never looked her way.

Thinking that her husband had shown up, Norton appeared disappointed to see it was only his wife in the room.

"Yes, it's fine. I'm sure Sean will be comfortable, and he's got a quality group of nurses on this floor too."

"He does?" Merton repeated, only to catch himself. "Of course, he does. A fine crop of nurses all over the hospital, but especially on this floor."

A soft knock at the door drew their attention back to Libby. She looked hesitant to enter with the chief administrator in the room. Harvey picked up on this, welcoming her back into the room.

"Ah, and here's one of your finest nurses, Norton. Libby's already been a great help to Sean and us. Please, don't mind us."

Merton immediately appeared uncomfortable around one of his non-physician employees. Making an excuse to leave, he added, "I'm, um, planning to be in my office for a few more hours. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call. Take good care of Dr. Tarver's son, nurse."

"Yep, nothing but a toady," Harvey noted again about Merton after he left the room. "I get the feeling that when he says Dr. Tarver, he's never referring to you, Bridget."

"Very much so. Merton's so far up Leonard's ass; I often wonder if I'll find him dead in our bathroom," Bridget revealed, earning a gasp from Libby that quickly turned into a series of giggles. "And I seemed to recall him complaining earlier that he was only at the hospital for a few minutes. Okay, Nurse Dall, let's have a look at the patient's chart."