In Sickness and in Lies novel · Chapter 28 of 32
Chapter 28: The Hearing
Bruce's POV
The hearing room had a long table, three chairs for the panel, and one chair for me.
I wore my gray suit, and I had not slept.
Gwyneth sat in the second row of the gallery.
I had asked her to say nothing, and she had agreed on the condition that she could watch.
The panel's lawyer read the complaint into the record.
It cited eleven photographs.
In the first, I was kneeling on a concrete floor in a storage unit with a woman's hand held in both of mine.
"Dr. MacGlynn," the chair said, a thin woman with a pencil behind her ear. "The complainant, Mr. Keane, is in federal custody and cannot attend. We proceed regardless. Do you dispute the photographs?"
"No."
My own lawyer shifted beside me.
I had told him to expect this.
"The date on that one is the second Saturday of November," the chair said. "At that time Myrna Snyder was your patient."
"She was."
"And the woman in the photograph is her daughter."
"Yes."
"Then I need to understand why you're sitting here without disputing the central charge."
I looked at the panel.
I had written four pages of defense and left them in the car.
"Because it's true," I said. "I held her hand while her mother was in my care. I had told her I didn't date a patient's family. I was telling myself the same thing, and it was already false."
Nobody in the room moved.
"I didn't hide it from her mother, and I didn't use my position to get close to her. I stopped it once, in her mother's kitchen, and told her why. After the transfer, I didn't stop."
Keep reading free with an account. Start In Sickness and in Lies from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.
← Chapter 27 · All chapters · Chapter 29 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend