LITMIR.BIZ

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lard in a huge skillet, they all watched each filet sizzle as he carefully lowered one filet at a time into the pan, which Bill recalled was spattering in every direction.

      Mary had prepared everything but the main entree while Bill and Susan helped set the table as they snacked on some hors d’oeuvres, happily drinking and talking about Susan catching the largest Walleye. Then Bill remembered how Doc walked out on the deck and smugly rang a large silver dinner bell, yelling - “Let’s eat.”

      It took only a few minutes for them to ravenously devour the delicious Walleye filets, and then as the sun began to inch closer to the horizon, Doc once again started the powerful diesels, pulling the boat off the beach. As the chill of the lake took over, he powered up the boat yelling, “We’ll have some warm coffee and dessert once we’re safely docked.” Slipping on their jackets, Mary, Susan and Bill found a comfortable place at the stern of the boat where they were protected from the wind, watching the rolling wake reflect a spectacular sunset. Then as the sun finally disappeared below the horizon, Doc carefully guided the boat along the stick-like markers back to that shaky dock. Bill could still remember that deathly silence when the diesels stopped - just before the sounds of the night once again felt it safe to take over as the frogs and crickets resumed their evening symphony. Even though they were protected from the wind, Mary hurriedly shut the cool evening air out by closing all the windows, before she served coffee and dessert.

      After some casual conversation, Bill remembered how Doc held up one hand to get their attention.

      “I apologize for changing the subject,” he’d explained, “but Mary’s probably told Bill that we’ll be leaving North Dakota in January, and the hospital will need to hire a new Nursing Director and a new General Surgeon. Mary and I have talked an awful lot about our retirement years, and I’ve concluded that if we’re to ever enjoy retirement, we need to do it now. I’ve been fighting these Dinosaurs for so long, I’m completely exhausted, and I need to get away from it all. I also have some real fears about what’s going on with these healthcare monopolies, and both you and Susan need to hear some of my concerns.” And as he looked at Bill he whispered, “I hope that what I’m going to tell you will somehow protect you and your family.”

      That caught Susan’s attention as Doc paused, taking a quick Scandinavian swig of scalding hot coffee.

      “Bill, you’re one of the best damn administrators I’ve ever seen, and I can’t stand to see you get trapped by that stupid-ass Lanin. But let me start by saying it’s very important for me that no one knows what I’m about to share with you.”

      “Both Susan and I can assure you of that,” Bill answered as he looked to Susan for approval.

      Then after Susan nodded rather cautiously, Doc continued.

      “All right, let me tell you I’ve been under some severe pressure to sell my practice to Lanin’s clinic, and I’ve never caved in to his demands before, because I consider his clique to be the biggest conglomerate of corrupt ass-holes on the face of the earth. There’s no one at that damned clinic you could ever trust, and as you already know, many new physicians are either run out of town by their boycotting, or they eventually bow to becoming submissive to those bastards. Because I came from a wealthy local family, my practice was well established before they came into power, and they haven’t been able to hurt me - although that’s not to say they haven’t tried. I could tell you stories that would curl your hair, but our time can best be served by telling you only what you need to know.”

      With that he paused just long enough to finish one last spoonful of cherry dessert.

      “Dick Lanin is an inept GP who could hardly qualify for his license to practice after he finished his general internship. About nine years ago he sucked up to his controller buddy Collier and the Sisters, whom he hates, so he could get appointed as Board Chairman at the hospital. We’ve all known that Collier was an original plant from that huge Nashville monopoly, but none of us had the guts or foresight to do anything about it back then - nor did we ever think it was even going to be a problem. As a result, Lanin and Collier have been stealing the hospital blind, and you’ve been successful in finally cutting off their water. If they had it their way, they’d bankrupt the hospital so they could take it over. You also need to know that Sister Jean, the former Administrator, and Sister Catherine the former Nursing Director, before you came here, were murdered by that son-of-a-bitch. Bill, that’s the absolute truth, but nobody is ever going to accuse him of that, if they want to live very long. You also need to know that those two Sisters were fed up with Collier’s crooked accounting tactics, and were about to blow the whistle on him. In fact, Sister Gerome, the Provincialate, told me they were driving to Denver to explain what was happening when their car ended up in the lake. They’d also told Gerome they were leaving the convent, and that was final - all because of the hell Lanin and Collier had created for them.”

      “Later,” Gerome said to me, “she’d placed Jean and Catherine in two of her most responsible positions, and had told them they couldn’t just walk out on them - she told them they needed to drive to Colorado, so they could at least talk before they made any decisions that involve the hospital. If we lose that hospital, we lose our mission in healthcare she’d said to them just before they were murdered.

      “Then after Lanin concocted that damned accident on their trip to Denver, Gerome flew here to visit with me. She told me she was searching for a solution to what was rapidly becoming an impossible situation. As you know, they’re a small order of just over three hundred nuns, and they’d already lost two of their smaller hospitals in the same type of hostile take-over. Bill, it was going to be impossible for them to survive if they lost this hospital. I remember standing there and watching her nervously pacing back and forth as she agonized over the predicament she was in.”

      With this, Doc paused, taking one last swig of coffee.

      “Then she told me she should’ve seen this coming. You know how our hospital’s costs have been spiraling out of control since those profit-centered HMOs have taken over our once nonprofit healthcare system, she’d said. And it was probably Jean’s only way of getting out of an impossible situation. Just as soon as she earned her Master’s Degree, I moved her right into one of the toughest jobs we had - and that was wrong, she explained to me.”

      “Yes, but you had no choice - you had no one else who was even qualified,” I replied.

      “I know, but she was just too young and inexperienced, and it was a huge mistake. Worse yet, we’ve kept her in that position way to long. In fact, she told me she couldn’t tolerate another day in that hospital because of these two thieves, which she referred to as Sodom and Gomorrah. Doctor, do you realize both Jean and Catherine were asking me for dispensation from their religious vows - can you believe that? She’d said to me - I can remember when a Sister’s vow was for life, and if we keep losing our younger nuns, it’s going to be hopeless for us to continue to help the sick and disabled.”

      “Bill, for as long as I’ve known Sister Gerome, she’d always been a very efficient and capable decision maker, but this time she was clearly at a loss as to what to do. In fact she asked me if I’d pray with her, and as I watched her lower her tall aching body to her knees her voice echoed through the room in a way I’ll never forget. It was just as if she had a direct line to God. I’ll never forget the way she said Dear Lord, when will I acquire some problem solving skills? Please give me your divine guidance. I just don’t understand what you want me to do. Then she lowered her head and prayed out loud - saying a prayer I’ll never forget.”

      “Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant me that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved, as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

      “I can’t explain it but I felt like the Lord was right there in the room with us. It was scary. I don’t know if you know this about Sister Gerome, but she’s half Lakota Indian,

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