24. What Are You Hiding?

Sage

“ H ave you planned on what you’re going to say?” Marcus asked.

Sage held the paper up in her hand. “I’ve been preparing this for months. I think I have it.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Exactly what I thought when I went into the budget meeting.” She shook her head. “They’re ruthless, I tell ya. Couldn’t even get a word in. When they were ranting and raving over their reasons, it was clear they believed they thought they were the only ones that mattered.” Lena crossed her arms in a huff. “Clearly, they just don’t care.”

Sage shook her head. “I can’t believe that. Or, rather, I don’t want to believe that. We give our heart to this place and to get shucked around, we can’t stand for that.” Sage looked past Marcus and Lena. She had hoped that Stassi would be there. She knew that it wasn’t likely since they had decided that they would keep their relationship quiet, but it would have been nice to see her face. Besides, Lena already knew, and it was likely that Marcus strongly suspected it.

Sage glanced at her watch. The minutes were inching closer. She was relieved that he hadn’t up and canceled on her, but based on the last encounter, anything was still possible. “How much longer?” Marcus asked.

“Ten minutes. I’ll head in, in about five.” She glanced down at the note, nerves starting to set in.

Her phone vibrated a notification and she reached into her pants and withdrew it to find a message from Stassi. She grinned as she read over it a second time.

Stassi

Remember that I’m there in spirit. You’ve got this. I’m sure of it. Don’t back down.

“What are you smiling about, as if I need to ask?” Lena giggled and Sage playfully nudged her in the side. She was like a giddy schoolgirl when she was around Stassi and seeing this message reminded her how much Stassi already meant to her. She quickly pocketed her phone and couldn’t break from the smile.

“That tells me everything I need to know.” Marcus chuckled.

Sage’s mouth opened, then quickly snapped shut. She had a job to do and wasn’t going to let Marcus and Lena teasing her get to her head.

“I better get in there, before they give my appointment away.”

“You’re taking one for the team, Sage.” Lena reached up and squeezed Sage’s shoulder. “I know we all appreciate it.”

Sage shrugged. If only she got some useful resolution from it. She turned and headed towards the door. Gina sat at her desk. She quickly typed on her computer and looked up as Sage entered the office.

“I’m here for my appointment.”

Gina frowned. “I thought that was rescheduled for next week.” She looked back to her computer as Sage stood there, gawking. She nodded. “I show the appointment was canceled and a call was made to you to reschedule.”

Sage shook her head. “I never got a call.”

Gina sighed. “Well, I’m sorry. We’ve been extremely busy, and it must’ve escaped me, but Mr. Benton is completely swamped with high-priority cases and there’s no way that he can see you today.”

“You can’t be serious. I’ve been waiting outside the door for thirty minutes now. I didn’t get a call to reschedule, and I’m not leaving until I speak to him. We want answers and, until we get them, no one is going to be happy. You tell him that.” Sage glared in Gina’s direction. Gina didn’t seem the least bit phased. She shrugged, stuttered, and ultimately held her own ground. “Is he in there?” Sage asked. She stomped towards his door.

“You can’t!” Gina called, just as Sage grabbed the handle and tugged at the door. It flew open and Noah stood up at his desk. “Mr. Benton, we demand answers.”

“What’s the point of this?” he asked. “Gina? Gina?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Benton. She barged in, and there wasn’t anything I could do.”

He glared at Gina, then turned his head to Sage. “I am busy, Sage. This is going to have to be put on the back burner for another day.”

Sage sat down in the chair across from him. “I’m not leaving until you at least hear what I have to say. If that means you have to work around me, then I guess that’s what will have to happen, but I’m staying. Like it or not.”

He arched an eyebrow. “You do realize that you’re not in a position to negotiate with me, right? I am the CFO. I report directly to the CEO and have years of experience over you.”

Sage stared back at him. He could ultimately have her fired on the spot. She knew all this, but she wouldn’t be able to respect herself if she didn’t give it a try, and now she felt she had nothing to lose. “Yes, but I represent the nurses and staff who make this hospital run.” The staring contest continued.

“You may go, Gina.” He waved her on and sat down behind his desk. Gina closed the door behind her and for one split second, Sage felt she had succeeded. “Sage, you have to understand that you don’t know what all goes around the making and running of a hospital.”

“That is true,” Sage admitted. “But I do know that the hospital relies on patients. And I know that without patients, there’s no money. I also know without staff to help the patients, the hospital will fail. If that’s your ultimate goal, then just say it. However, if you would like to explore other avenues, then maybe, as a team, we could all help you out. The nurses and the rest of the staff, we want to feel like we’re still part of a team.”

He snickered. “It’s not our goal to make you believe otherwise.” He leaned back in his chair. “So, what are the major concerns?”

Sage looked down at her note. “One of the big concerns is the email that was sent out yesterday. 401ks are being slashed? Some of these nurses have been employed with this hospital for thirty or forty years. That’s a lifetime for me. And a lifetime for many others. These nurses are going to retire and not have enough money to support themselves. I can’t believe a company would be alright doing this to its loyal employees.”

“Again, you don’t know how business works. This is a not-for-profit hospital, and the hard truth is that we’re losing money. Things have to be cut somewhere, and unfortunately, we have opted to make the cut. It will be a gradual one.”

“Before it’s all gone.” Sage shook her head, and he didn’t comment. “The employees are upset that overtime hasn’t been paid for a while now.”

“Again, it’s all about there not being enough money.”

“Yet, because you let staff go, the ones that are left behind feel they need to compensate by working off the clock. That’s not ethical.”

He raised his shoulders in a shrug. “Any other thoughts?”

Sage stared at her list. Everything she said was going in one ear and out the other. Not one item on her list seemed like it would go any further than coming from her mouth. If she mentioned that the staff was threatening to walk, then he would shrug it off and that would be one less employee he had to fire.

“Is there a reason you won’t get the staff more involved and allow them the courtesy of coming up with cost-based solutions?” Sage tossed the list down on his desk. “We have a great team, and I don’t think the hospital will be what it has been built into, if we lose some of this staff. Keep that in mind.” She got up from her chair and turned, leaving the office before Noah could even give a rebuttal. She had said her peace, but with someone that stubborn, it was hard to get him to hear the voice of reason.

Gina watched her as she left the office. Marcus and Lena were still out in the hallway and both of them jumped up from their chair and stared at her. She slowly shook her head.

“It was pointless,” she stated. Lena and Marcus groaned. “He tried to back out of the meeting, again. When I wouldn’t leave, he said he’d listen, but that was about as far as it went. He’s so damn bullheaded, but it is what it is.”

“No,” Lena argued. “We can’t just say it is what it is and shrug it off. Something has to be done.”

“What?” Marcus asked.

Lena shook her head. “I haven’t figured that one out but give me time.”

Sage glanced at her watch. “I have to get to work. I have a patient coming in. I’ll see you guys later.” She hurried to the elevator and rode it up to her floor. When she got off the elevator, Stassi stood at the nurse’s station, her eyes directed in that direction. She stood up straighter and hurried over to Sage.

“I was on break and hoping you’d be back. How’d it go?”

Sage shook her head. “It didn’t. He didn’t want to hear me out. He listened but didn’t seem too concerned. I just don’t know that I’ll be able to see this hospital again as the place where one cared about the employees,” she sighed. “Maybe it’s time I go to work someplace else.”

Stassi frowned. “Don’t say that. I see the way you deal with these patients and they all genuinely like you. Don’t give up on them.”

Sage gave a weak smile. She wanted to be in the same mindset, but it was hard when the place she’d worked so hard for, to succeed, was quickly crumbling in front of her.

“If I didn’t have a patient, I would pull you into a room and have mad, passionate sex.”

Stassi laughed and then looked around before she caught a quick kiss. “If you didn’t have a patient and I didn’t have to get back to work, I’d allow that. But later?”

“Definitely.” Sage watched as Stassi went back to the front desk. She had to try to be positive, but all she saw were ways to fail in the current situation. She turned and headed to the room. With her patient waiting, she had to think about that later, as now wasn’t the time.