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‘All of them?’ He blinked.
‘Yes, as Khiem and Hoa’s son and heir, you are the only person named in their will.’
Duc gulped. ‘But what about the running of the hospitals? The arrangements? They must have put some provision in place.’
Mr Quang gave a tight-lipped nod. He pulled out a folder from under his desk. ‘Yes, they did leave a number of instructions. Mainly about practical things. Supplies, deliveries, bank accounts. Payroll arrangements and details of their accountant.’ He gave a sympathetic smile. ‘It is all rather complicated.’
Duc leaned forward, trying to drown out the roaring that was currently in his ears. ‘But the hospitals. There has to be some other arrangements. I assumed...’ he ran a hand through his hair ‘...that they’d made some kind of provision—a long term plan. Arrangements for a board of some sort, or an oversight committee.’
Quang shook his head. ‘Maybe they hoped you’d change your mind? Or, as you said, they hadn’t quite foreseen anything like this happening and assumed they would have plenty of time to put those kinds of arrangements in place.’ Quang gave him an almost impertinent look.
‘When I said they’d made arrangements, I was talking about the fact they’d even got around to making a will. Have you any idea how many people don’t get that far?’ He didn’t even wait for an answer to that question before continuing, holding up the folder. ‘This contains most of the essential information you’ll need for the safe running of the hospitals. In most instances this could take months to find.’
He leaned back in his chair but left his hands clasped together on the desk. ‘The legalities of everything, the transfer of rights, et cetera, will, inevitably, take some time. Probably a minimum of six months. You won’t be able to make any major changes or...’ he raised one eyebrow as he looked straight at Duc ‘...or sales until that point.’
A chill passed over Duc. This really wasn’t happening. It just couldn’t be.
‘But what about staffing? I have no obstetrician. If rights don’t pass to me, I’m assuming I can’t advertise posts for staff? And what about the bank accounts and payroll—are the staff supposed to work without getting paid?’
The lawyer gave a smile, shook his head and shuffled some papers. ‘No, no, of course not. There are legal provisions for situations such as these—when there are hospital or medical facilities involved. Your parents had an agreement with the Vietnamese government about providing medical facilities within areas of greatest need. That allows some...’ he pulled a face ‘...flexibility, in order to allow the service to continue. It falls under...’ he lifted his fingers ‘...“emergency service” remit.’
Duc tried to breathe in—even though it felt as if a clamp had just fastened around his chest. ‘That makes sense,’ he muttered. He’d heard about similar arrangements in the past.
The lawyer pulled out some other papers. ‘You can recruit staff in order to maintain service provision.’
Duc shook his head, waiting to see if Mr Quang would say anything else. But silence filled the space. ‘That’s it? Six months until the paperwork is sorted out?’ He knew his voice was rising in pitch, but he couldn’t help it. ‘I can’t stay here. I have a job—responsibilities. I’ve currently left a teaching hospital in Philadelphia without a resident surgeon. I’m part of a programme. A programme I worked very hard to be part of. Backing out now would virtually get me blacklisted from every other programme that exists.’ Panic gripped his chest.
The lawyer seemed nonplussed. ‘I’m sure other staff have family situations that have to be dealt with. If you let them know what’s happened, I think you’ll find they will be quite understanding. And there will be other residencies—other surgical programmes.’
‘Spoken like a true lawyer with no understanding of the medical profession and just how competitive things actually are,’ Duc snapped.
Quang acted as though he hadn’t heard. He pushed a few pieces of paper towards Duc and held a pen towards him. ‘I need your signature on a few items.’
Duc stiffened. Hostility sweeping through him. A hand came over and squeezed his knee. He glanced sideways. He could see the tension in the muscles at the bottom of Viv’s neck. She was trying very, very hard to stay quiet right now. ‘What if I refuse?’
Quang’s eyebrow moved a few millimetres upwards. ‘Your staff won’t get paid. Deliveries of supplies to the hospital will cease, and there will be no budget to pay for all the tests you send to the labs.’
He had him. Of course he did.
Duc snatched the pen from his hand and scribbled his signature on the three pieces of paper. The air in the office was stifling. He had to get out of there. He walked out without another word and strode back down the stairs. He could hear Vivienne’s light footsteps running behind him.
But as he burst out into the bright sunlight, he knew immediately the error of his ways. The heat outside was every bit as warm as in the office. He couldn’t seem to catch a cool breath.
‘Duc!’ Vivienne’s voice was loud behind him and she clamped down her hand on his arm. ‘What on earth just happened in there?’
The heat was starting to get to her hair. It was getting a little frizzy around the edges. And, from the look of Vivienne, she was getting a little frizzy around the edges too. Her mouth was set in a harsh line.
‘My career just divebombed out the window,’ he replied. He glanced around them. ‘Come with me.’ He grabbed hold of her hand and led her across the street to a franchise of a popular coffee chain. The air-conditioning blasted them as soon as they walked through the door. It only took a few moments to order some coffee and cake and take a seat in one of the booths.
Duc could feel the sweat that had emerged on his skin instantly cooling. He undid the button on his collar and pulled his tie down. Viv undid the button on her collar too. Her thin gold chain was nestled against her skin.
Before he could think, his fingers had reached across the table. ‘You still wear that?’
On anyone else, this would be an intrusive move, but with Viv it felt entirely natural. His fingers rested on the chain and gave it a little tug upwards, revealing the gold butterfly with pale blue tourmaline stones in its wings.
Her hand came up and caught the pendant. ‘Of course I still wear it,’ she said sharply.
He’d bought it for her a few years ago for her birthday. It had been an entirely spur-of-the-moment purchase. He’d been walking through a shopping arcade in one of the more prestigious parts of Chicago when it had caught his eye in a window display.
Viv had joked the year before that no man had ever bought her jewellery, but as soon as he’d seen the pale blue in the butterfly’s wings it had reminded him of the blue of her eyes. He’d bought and shipped it that day. It had gone clean out of his head until this very second.
He dropped his hand and gave her a smile. ‘You told me no man had ever bought you jewellery.’
She stared at him for a few seconds. He was well aware of the fact he was avoiding the elephant in the room, and he didn’t doubt for a se
cond that Viv knew it too.
She leaned her head on one hand and dropped the pendant, letting it dangle between the curves of her breasts outlined by her shirt. She lifted her spoon and stirred her cappuccino round and round.
‘No man has.’ Her lips quipped upwards.
He didn’t take the bait. Just stared at the random cakes he’d just bought sitting on the plates in front of them.
Her fingers drummed on the table. ‘I guess this wasn’t exactly what you expected,’ she said softly.
‘Nope.’ The anger was still thrumming through his body. He’d loved his parents dearly, but he’d never expressed any interest in taking over from them at the community hospitals. They’d always known his plan was to be a surgeon. Why on earth would they not have made better plans?
His hands clenched into fists. ‘This is a mess. A complete and utter mess. I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t be doing this.’ The last word was said through gritted teeth.
Silence encompassed them.
Viv wasn’t normally the type to keep quiet. Whilst she always had a good manner with patients, Duc had seen her stand up to arrogant colleagues, wipe the floor with rude medical students, and question incompetent methods at every turn. One question. That was all she’d asked. He glanced at his watch. They’d been in here more than ten minutes. The fact she’d been this quiet this long wasn’t a good sign.
‘Spit it out, Viv. I feel like I’m dangling from the cliff edge already. Just spit it out.’
Her shoulders went down, and her chin tilted up. He still couldn’t get away from the businesswoman look she was sporting today. He’d always known Viv wasn’t someone to mess with, but today, with the smart skirt, shirt and heels, she looked like she was about to wipe out a whole boardroom.
