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case?”
    Savannah’s head whipped around and she spat, “I am.”
    Her gaze locked with his and his eyebrow rose in question. “You?”
    “Yes, me.”
    A frown pulled down the corners of his mouth. “Give me a rundown, then.”
    “And just who the hell are you?”
    “Doctor Cooper. Brandon Cooper.” He held out his hand, but she frowned and cocked an eyebrow, so he pulled it back. “And you are?”
    “Doctor Gibson.”
    “Well, Doctor Gibson—care to tell me what happened, since I’m the attending?”
    Savannah ground her teeth together while she fought the urge to give him a dressing down.
    He’s the one who took her off the backboard.
    “I’m not exactly sure. She was sitting on the side of the bed when I went out to talk to the officer who called her father. Her mother is the DOA in the next room.”
    “Her exam was negative?”
    “Yes, other than some abdominal tenderness.”
    “I’m assuming she came in on a backboard and cervical collar.”
    “Yes.”
    “Who cleared her?”
    Savannah’s eyes widened and she stared. “You did.”
    “Me? I never saw her.”
    “Marie said you cleared her. She said you told her the CT was negative and she could remove her from the backboard and cervical collar.” She planted her hands on her hips. “Are you saying you cleared this child without even examining her?”
    Marie popped her head into the room. “Her dad is here. Do you want to meet with him, Doctor Gibson?”
    “Yes.” She shot a glance at the man on the other side of the bed. “And you’re coming with me to explain why his daughter was fine one minute and the next she’s on a vent.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “I didn’t clear her from the board, you did. I had planned to scan her belly, but you told the nurse to take her off of it. She had some tenderness to her spleen and right now she probably needs a surgery consult for internal bleeding.”
    “I...uh...I’ll put him in the conference room.” Marie ducked back out and shut the door behind her.
    “Let’s get one thing straight here. You are the resident and I’m the attending.” His eyes narrowed. “I cleared a CT scan for the patient in room one, not room four. The patient in room one’s name is Anders, not Sanders.”
    “Well you know what? Right now I don’t give a shit who you are or if you screwed up and cleared the wrong patient. There is a little girl lying there with a tube down her throat and several cracked ribs because her heart stopped for a reason. Her father is sitting in the conference room waiting to know what the hell is going on and I have to tell him something.” She brushed away a tear that escaped and cut a path down her cheek. “His wife is dead in the next room and his daughter may not make it.”
    Brandon grabbed the upper part of her arm and pulled her toward the door.
    “What the hell are you doing?”
    “We aren’t discussing this in front of the patient or where anyone else might hear this conversation.” He continued to pull her down the hall until they reached the physicians’ lounge. She looked over her shoulder and flushed with embarrassment when at least ten sets of eyes focused on her. Brandon punched the code in the door while she struggled to pull her arm from his grasp, but he wasn’t letting go.
    He pushed her inside, scanned the room quickly for anyone else’s presence, and then slammed the door shut behind them. “Now, I think you need to give this case over to someone else. You are obviously too close and cannot treat the patient objectively.”
    A gasped fell from her lips. “You’re taking me off Molly’s case?”
    “Yes.”
    “N-no. You can’t!”
    “You can’t treat her when you’re so involved.”
    Savannah sank down onto the couch and wrapped her arms around her middle. She rocked back and forth for a moment before she raised her gaze to his. “Please. Don’t take me off. I need to see this through.”
    Brandon sat next to her. “Doctor