Image retrieved from PD.com | Created by PuЪLiㄷEиəℳy#1
Note: The following short story is an entry in the 13th installment of PD.com's Epics & Legends Writing Battle competition, where it finished first out of seven entries. To view the original entry of the competition, click here.
All rights to this story are reserved to the author and owner of this blog.
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Nathan fidgeted uncomfortably as he sat on the witness stand. He never liked being on the spotlight, despite having some experience with it from various TV and radio interviews he had done in the past. It made him feel vulnerable.
There was more than your usual courtroom crowd in the gallery today. The media people, in particular, came in groups. After all, it’s not every day that they get to see one of the more popular doctors in the country sit in the witness stand and defend himself of a murder charge.
“Doctor Linniell?”
Nathan quickly moved his head towards the direction of the voice. It was his defense lawyer, Richard De Hesus, sitting directly across Nathan in the defense table. “Yes?” Nathan managed to ask.
“I know this is hard for you but please try to focus on what we’re doing here, doctor,” De Hesus said to his client.
“Sorry.”
“That’s alright.” De Hesus said. He then scribbled something in his legal pad. “Let me ask you again: What is your relationship with the victim, Mrs. Elizabeth Hernandez?”
Nathan cleared his throat and said, “Mrs. Hernandez was my patient in the oncology department of St. James Medical Hospital in Quezon City from February 18, 2012, last year until January 3 of this year.”
“And what did you treat her for?”
Nathan rearranged the eyeglasses. “At the time of admission, Breast cancer, stage three.”
“February last year to January this year. That’s quite a long time for hospitalization, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is. Mrs. Hernandez suffered great pain during those times.”
“I can only imagine,” De Hesus remarked. “Have you known her before admission?”
“Yes. She was a very close family friend. I considered her as my godmother.”
De Hesus shifted his weight from left to right on his chair. He then cleared his throat before continuing. “You told me she had stage three cancer when she was admitted. Did this change over the course of treatment?”
Nathan nodded. “Around September last year, despite progressive interventions, the cancer escalated to stage four. Metastasis spread beyond her lymph nodes.”
“Did this force you to change her therapy?”
“I had to. I went to more aggressive modes of action. Higher chemotherapy doses, more radiation administrations, everything.”
“I understand,” De Hesus said. He flipped through some pages of his legal pad and animatedly looked like he found what he was looking for. “Did you, in any time during treatment, consider dropping the aggressive interventions and proceed to palliative care?”
Nathan shook his head. “N-No. Never. Mrs. Hernandez was still early in stage four and I really thought we had a chance of combating the illness.”
“And yet she died, despite your best efforts.”
“Objection!”
Both Nathan and De Hesus spun their head towards the prosecution table, where the district attorney (more commonly called the fiscal in the Philippines) was already on his feet. “Objection, your Honor. My colleague’s last statement was not a question for the witness to answer.”
De Hesus stood up and raised his hand. The judge nodded at him. “I withdraw my last statement, your Honor.”
“Alright,” the judge said while she brushed back her hair with her right hand. “Proceed.”
The two lawyers sat down. Nathan looked at the people in the gallery. The media people started scribbling hastily on their notebooks – cameras were banned inside the courtroom. A few of the watchers began to whisper to each other. The fireworks have begun.
“Tell me, Doctor Linniell, did Mrs. Hernandez ever talk to you about dying?”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed. “I-I don’t know what you mean.”
“Did she ever tell you about ‘ending it all’?”
Nathan looked at the tiled floors of the courtroom, deep in thought. Without looking back at his lawyer, Nathan said, “Many times. It was a struggle for her. Despite her strong personality, she can only endure the pains of cancer so much.”
“What did you advise her?”
“To fight on. I told her I wasn’t giving up on her, so she should at least not give up on me.”
De Hesus let Nathan’s last statement hang in the air for a few seconds, with the media people in the gallery at the back of the lawyer’s head. He then took out three sheets of paper from a file folder. He then stood up and gave the fiscal, the judge and Nathan a copy. “Presenting Defense exhibit number eight,” De Hesus said as he walked back to the defense table. After he took his seat, he looked at Nathan and said, “Could you please tell us, Doctor Linniell, what that sheet of paper is and what it’s for?”
“It’s a DNR or ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ order sheet. When this sheet is accomplished the patient with his immediate family consents that the medical team will no longer intervene should he suffer a fatal circumstance brought about by his disease.”
“So you’re saying the medical team will no longer intervene with the process of dying.”
“Yes.”
“Alright, doctor,” De Hesus continued. “Can you verify who accomplished that form you’re holding dated December 27, 2012?”
“I did. My signature is on the bottom of the form.”
“Good. Did you do this with the consent of the patient’s immediate family?”
“Yes. They signed the attached consent form, all three children of Mrs. Hernandez.”
“Very well.” De Hesus took out another set of papers and gave it to the same persons he gave the exhibit number seven earlier. “Defense exhibit number eight and nine, your Honor,” the defense lawyer said as he sat in his chair. “Mrs. Hernandez’ death certificate and a third-party autopsy report on Mrs. Hernandez, respectively.”
De Hesus waited for the judge and the fiscal to examine the papers before he continued. “Doctor Linniell, from those two documents, what was the cause of Mrs. Hernandez’ death?”
After scanning through the papers, Nathan said, “Congestive heart failure secondary to cardiotoxicity brought about by complications of cancer.”
“Basically, she died of a natural heart attack?”
“In layman’s terms, yes.”
“And there was nothing you could do about it?”
“No. The DNR was in place. There was nothing I could do.”
* * *
Nathan sighed deeply. The judge did not order a recess after De Hesus’ direct examination so Nathan had no choice but to remain in his seat and endure another round of questions, this time likely to be more hostile, from the fiscal. The doctor rubbed his forehead as he looked at the tiled floor below. It was only ten-thirty in the morning and yet he already felt exhausted.
“Doctor Linniell,” called the fiscal, Anton Arkimedes, from his chair. “Let me cut to the chase. Do you believe in a person’s unalienable constitutional right to life?”
“Objection!” Nathan’s defense counsel quickly stood up from his seat. “Irrelevant.”
Arkimedes stood up from his chair and raised his hand. “I’m laying the predicate here, your Honor. If only Mr. De Hesus wouldn’t jump the gun too early.”
The judge tapped her podium with a pencil. “Hmm… I’ll overrule the objection, provided the prosecution would quickly wind up his line of questioning.”
“Thank you, your Honor,” both lawyers replied.
The judge looked at Nathan and said, “Doctor Linniell, you may answer.”
“My answer,” Nathan said, “is yes.”
Arkimedes nodded and fired another question. “How about the right to liberty? The freedom to choose under any circumstance?”
Nathan could see his defense lawyer’s eyes grow wide at the fiscal’s question. Perhaps he knew something Nathan didn’t? De Hesus stood up. “Objection, your Honor! Calls for expert opinion. We have established Doctor Linniell as an expert in the field of medicine, not of law.”
“This is a simple yes or no question, your Honor,” Arkimedes said as he stood up to respond. “I am not asking for a legal opinion here.”
The judge glared at De Hesus and said, “Overruled.”
De Hesus slowly sat back on his chair. Arkimedes, who remained standing, prodded Nathan. “Your answer, doctor.”
“Y-yes.”
“Good,” Arkimedes interjected. “So that means you also believe that the person has the unalienable right to die?”
Nathan felt a lump form inside his throat. He just fell into a trap. “I-I… Yes, but this doesn’t—“
“Yes or no answers only, doctor,” Arkimedes interrupted. “Let’s move on.”
Nathan darted his gaze at his defense lawyer. De Hesus simply shrugged sympathetically at Nathan, as if to say, “I did what I could.”
“Now, doctor. Tell me, where were you the evening before Mrs. Hernandez’ death?”
“I was at the hospital, checking on Mrs. Hernandez.”
“Did you do this often, check on her?”
Nathan’s eyes narrowed. “Y-yes! I’m her doctor, after all.”
Arkimedes quickly took out two relatively thick stacks of paper from an envelope on his table and gave each to De Hesus and the judge. “People’s exhibit twenty-four, doctor’s orders sheets from Mrs. Hernandez’ patient records covering the dates August 2012 to January 2013.” The fiscal then looked at Nathan and asked, “Doctor, aren’t you required to fill up this sheet every time you visit a patient?”
Nathan nodded. “It’s s-standard procedure, yes.”
“Well, judging from these documents, you didn’t really visit her often until late December.” Arkimedes flipped through his copy of the doctor’s orders sheets “From once every four, five days starting August to early December to almost every day starting December 15th. Either you were lying about your answer earlier or you suddenly developed a mutual feeling for her during the holiday season.”
Some people in the gallery chuckled.
“Objection! Objection, your Honor!” De Hesus rose angrily from his seat, pushing his table on the way.
Arkimedes grinned, raised his hands in surrender and said, “Withdrawn, your Honor.”
“Let’s move on!” The judge ordered. While De Hesus slumped back on his chair, the fiscal went back to his questioning. “I’m curious, doctor. What exactly did you check with Mrs. Hernandez the night before her death?”
Nathan looked at his defense lawyer, eyes asking for help. De Hesus simply nodded Nathan on. “I-I just checked on her general condition.”
“I see,” Arkimedes replied nonchalantly while reading some document. “Anything else you did while with her?”
“I don’t under—”
Arkimedes stood up, the documents he was reading earlier in hand and gave copies of it to De Hesus and the judge. “Your Honor, People’s exhibit twenty-five, nurse’s notes dated January 2, 2013, day before victim’s death. Night-shift report states that Mrs. Hernandez was hooked to a new bottle of IV fluid despite her having hooked with a full two-liter bottle just two hours earlier, which was precisely the same time as Doctor Linniell’s visit, if you look at exhibit twenty-four of the same date. That bottle’s flow rate was set to be emptied after ten hours, not two.”
The fiscal looked at Nathan and said, “You’re the medical expert here, Doctor Linniell. Tell me how that was possible.”
Nathan remained silent at the witness stand, apparently engrossed at some speck in the wall. His defense counsel was as stationary in his chair.
“Never mind that,” Arkimedes said as he stood up to give another sheet of paper to both De Hesus and the judge. “People’s exhibit twenty-six. Nurse’s notes dated January 3, 2013. Nurse’s reports from the 10PM-2PM shift state that Doctor Linniell personally gave Mrs. Hernandez her daily IV infusion of tramadol, a potent analgesic, at three AM. An hour after that, Mrs. Hernandez peacefully went into ‘code blue’ status as she went into ventricular tachycardia, basically cardiac arrest. What can you say to that, Doctor Linniell?”
“Uhm… I…” Nathan began.
“Objection, your Honor! Objection!” De Hesus rose from his chair. “Not only is the prosecutor’s question vague, but his earlier statement on cardiac arrest is hearsay for it hasn’t been verified by an established medical expert!”
Arkimedes stood up and replied, “Your Honor, Doctor Linniell can answer that himself. This court has established him to be a medical expert, after all!”
“But your Honor, Doctor Linniell cannot testify on grounds of conflict of interest! Besides, that will violate his right against self-incrimination!”
The judge raised both her hands. “I understand the case you’re presenting, Mr. Arkimedes. But don’t you have another way to send your point across?”
“I do, your Honor.” Arkimedes grabbed another document from his table and again gave De Hesus and the judge copies each. “People’s exhibit twenty-seven. A sworn statement from the Quezon City Health Department officer himself, Doctor John Osmundo. He states that ‘fluid overloading – more than two liters in a span of one hour at minimal activity – can trigger heart failure in patients suffering from chronic cardiac conditions in a span of hours.’ A full explanation on this is included in his dossier.”
“Your Honor,” De Hesus, who was still standing, interrupted. “We still have to hear Doctor Osmundo’s testimony here in court so that question can be propounded to him!”
Arkimedes quickly countered. “Don’t worry, your Honor. He will be available in the next hearing as our first witness in our rebuttal presentation.”
“Enough!” The judge bellowed. “Both of you, sit down. Having heard all arguments and developments, the defense’s pending objection is overruled. The prosecution may continue.”
De Hesus shook his head as he sat down on his chair. Arkimedes, meanwhile, stood up and said, “Nevertheless, your Honor, I’ll rephrase my question.”
Audibly clearing his throat, the fiscal looked at Nathan and said, “My case is now pretty obvious to you, isn’t it? You just had to help Mrs. Hernandez, didn’t you?”
“I d-don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t play dumb, doctor. You had to help her die, right? Because it was her unalienable, constitutional right! So what did you do? You overloaded her with fluids, knowing she already had a weak heart, all that cardiotoxicity mumbo-jumbo!”
Nathan shook his head. “N-No!”
“Objection! Badgering the witness!” De Hesus roared from his chair.
“Sustained!” the judge ordered.
With the media people at the gallery on the fiscal’s mind, he continued. “Then, to make sure she didn’t feel anything other than peace during her final minutes, you gave Mrs. Hernandez a shot of tramadol, didn’t you?”
“No!” Nathan shouted.
“Objection!” De Hesus was on his feet.
With the judge banging her gavel, Arkimedes went for the coup-de-grace. He paced towards the witness stand and confronted Nathan. “Then Mrs. Hernandez was off to meet her maker, thanks to you! Now answer me, Doctor Nathan Linniell, did you or did you not kill Mrs. Hernandez?”
This time, De Hesus was now past his table and a few paces away from Arkimedes. “Objection! Objection!”
The judge vehemently banged her gavel. “That is enough, Mr. Arkimedes!”
Arkimedes looked at the reporters and other people in the gallery, who were enjoying the climactic drama. The fiscal then looked at Nathan, who was slouched on his chair, eyes red and teary. Arkimedes finally looked at the judge, who was red-faced, and said. “No further questions.”
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