Lady of the Lake: Chapter 32 – A Hospital Crisis or TwoGaleas asked at the reception desk for directions to the waiting room where Thornton Wolff was waiting. Expecting only that he needed to show some ID and explain that he wanted to wait with Thornton Wolff for news of his sister’s surgery, Galeas wasn’t prepared for the third degree he received from the receptionist, the myriad of forms he was asked to complete or being frisked by two Security Guards. By contrast the airport security had been a piece of cake. Galeas was asked to surrender the contents of his pockets, his cell phone, and his watch. He was then handed a plastic card with a magnetic strip and escorted to a lift by yet another security guard.
Although treated with politeness by the security guard, Galeas found out it was pointless to ask him any questions as he received no response from the security guard. The lift descended to what Galeas estimated to be about eight floors below ground level. He could feel the slight positive pressure of the filtered air as the security guard escorted him along pristine white unadorned corridors. For an unknown reason Galeas found himself counting the number of doors he passed.
Another security guard was waiting outside the twelfth door. Galeas’ security guard swiped his card and opened the doors into a waiting lounge in which the only person was a visibly distressed Thornton Wolff. Galeas paused for a moment, mentally preparing himself for what he expected would be a trying time, but when he turned to his escort he found both security guards were gone.
Galeas was more disconcerted at Thornton’s state of anxiety than the rigmarole of getting to the waiting room. Truthfully, Galeas hadn’t particularly liked Thornton. Although Thornton could be charming, Galeas had long considered his brother-in-law to be too slick and somewhat shallow.
“Hello Thornton. Any news?”
Thornton looked up with grey eyes dark with angst. “Hello Galeas. No... no news yet... but she’s been in surgery now for six hours. All Dr Landgraab said was that Morgana had severe trauma to the brain. An old friend of mine, Dr Jolina, is assisting with the surgery. I haven’t heard a peep out of anyone since I signed the consent forms. But six hours Galeas; that can’t be good!”
Galeas noted Thornton’s tired appearance and nervous gesturing and hoping to conceal his own apprehension at that news, tried to comfort his brother-in-law. “Well brain surgery is delicate and I’d rather they take 20 hours than rush it and mess it up.”
“You’re right... I know you’re right... I agree... absolutely... but I just wish I knew what was happening. I feel so helpless, so... so... useless just sitting here doing nothing.”
Galeas knew there was absolutely nothing either of them could do to change the outcome of the surgery. They had to trust the experience, dedication and skill of the surgery team. Not wanting to focus on things he couldn’t control, Galeas asked Thornton about the hospital and the peculiarity of the surgery suite being so far underground.
“Oh that was because some years ago, a meteor struck the Science Facility and everyone there was killed. After that, City Hall commissioned a Critical Infrastructure Audit for the town’s essential services. The Audit found most of the hospital’s superstructure was too old to withstand a similar sized meteor strike so City Hall decided the best answer was not to build a new hospital on a greenfield site, but to build under the existing hospital when future expansion was needed. The hospital administration of that time wanted to expand. Vita Alto had such grand plans and got City Hall to fast track the new diagnostic rooms and surgical suite here to position the hospital to be the preeminent hospital in the region.”
“That sounds like a massive exercise. Excavation under an existing structure must have been hideously expensive not to mention disruptive to patient care,” said Galeas.
“It was. There was the standard state and federal government grants, but that wasn’t enough for the project. We had the usual fundraising but in the end, the hospital was green lit for listing on the stock exchange. I was one of the team that put together the prospectus. Most of the people in the town took up parcels of shares but the majority went to two institutional investors.”
“It seems remarkable to get institutional investors for a small town hospital.”
“It was, but Vita Alto and Nancy Landgraab put aside their differences to really sell the potential of this hospital. Everything was fine until 18 months ago when the one of the institutional investors decided to sell their stock. Most of the town’s people volunteered to buy what additional shares they could afford but there was still a large block of shares which were sold to an unknown entity. Then the other big institutional investor needed to sell six months ago and their shares were bought by the same unknown entity. Nancy Landgraab wrote to the SEC Registry to get the details but even with the extensive Landgraab resources, we really don’t know who owns that stock. The shares are held in a very obscure shelf company whose ownership structure is too complicated to figure out.”
“Is that legitimate?”
“Well the SEC can’t find anything illegal so until we can prove otherwise, we’re powerless. For some unknown reasons the criminal element over at the Outstanding Citizen’s Warehouse Corp has acquired the proxy voting right of that block of shares and rumours abound that they actually are the new majority shareholder. Regardless, they dismissed the previous Board and the new Board of Directors implemented a whole swathe of price increases that the hospital really can’t cope with. As a result, throughput is diminishing, which has led to reduced income. So combine that with the Board salaries that are now astronomical, dividends to the shareholders are a pittance.”
Thornton looked back at the clock and sighed but continued his narrative. “The majority shareholder will only sell their shares as a block and are asking §26 million, which equates to about §520 per share which is ridiculous and unrealistic. The security guards you met are here to try to keep the criminal element from openly accessing critical parts of the hospital because they scare away the potential patients we need to keep the hospital afloat. But they just waltz in and out the front door as if they practically owned the place.”
“Which they might,” pointed out Galeas.
“Yes unfortunately, as majority shareholder, they technically might.”
“How much did you pay per share in the initial float?”
“§20 per share which was reasonable for about a 6% return.”
“Quite reasonable. What does the SEC say about the value they’ve put on the shares?
“There’s nothing they can do because the shares aren’t being sold via the stock exchange. It’s a private treaty offer only! Nobody I know can afford to pay that sort of money.” Thornton looked back at the clock and slumped heavily in his chair.
“What about the Altos. I heard they were fairly wealthy?”
“They are or were. Nick Alto was the ousted Chairman. That’s why we don’t think the Altos are involved with this mob. Everybody in this town has just about every spare cent they had invested in this hospital including the Altos. At least we’ve got control of 49% of the voting stock but unfortunately they’ve got the majority 51%. With the explosion and the OSHA investigation, even the marginal profits will fall and the hospital will produce losses not profits. Many townies won’t be able to afford to retain their shares and will probably sell. In the articles for the company float, any shareholder with 60% of the stock could authorise a new share issue.” Thornton looked thoroughly defeated. “We could lose this hospital to those crooks.” With that said, Thornton slumped in his chair running his fingers through his usually neatly combed hair.
Galeas felt it unwise to engage him in further conversation and walked over to the bookcases. “Do you want a book Thornton? Books can while away the hours.”
“I tried earlier but I read the first paragraph about 40 times and I still couldn’t tell you which book I had been reading.”
Galeas shrugged and selected a book to read but as the hours ticked slowly away, he became restless. Thornton was already pacing up and down. Watching Thornton, Galeas thought about the hospital’s problems and how Morgana had loved this little valley and its people. He wondered if there was anything he could do. His parents were comfortably off but not rich to the tune of §26 million. There had to be a town planning or government issue that could circumvent the crooks taking control the whole hospital. But unless he lived in the town, he was as powerless as Thornton. Galeas wanted to go back outside to phone Connor but found the swipe card he been given would not allow the lift to move. He went back to Thornton.
“The security swipe card I was given doesn’t operate the lift. How do you go outside?”
“That’s not a security swipe card. That’s a credit card. You need it to buy coffee or snacks from the vending machine. If you want to go outside, you need to call security and they will escort you, but again, it will cost you.”
Galeas decided to conserve his money. Finally, after many long hours, just when Galeas had begun to think Thornton wasn’t going to last the distance, the waiting room doors opened. A doctor approached them with tiredness etched on every angle of his face. Reaching out the doctor shook Thornton’s nervous hands.
“Thornton, we believe the surgery to be successful. Morgana has come through it remarkably well. She’s on life support but she’s such a fighter. We’ll keep her in an induced coma until the swelling goes down. I won’t lie to you. It was a particularly difficult surgery to repair quite extensive damage to the brain. We can’t even begin to speculate how she’ll be until she comes round. I don’t want you to see her just yet. If you see her through the window, you’ll be unnecessarily alarmed by the machines and bandages. Go home Thornton. Get some sleep. Dr Jolina will stay with her through what’s left of the night.”
The doctor turned to Galeas. “Hello, I’m Dr Geoffrey Landgraab. You must be Galeas, Morgana’s brother. She has told me so much about you and your family, that I feel I know you well. I’m sorry you had to return to Sunset Valley under such circumstances, but ultimately, I hope your visit will be a happy one. Morgana is getting the very best of care, I can assure you. As well as her surgeon, I’m also Morgana’s boss. She means a lot to all of us here at the Sacred Spleen and we’re doing everything we can for her.”
“Thank you Dr Landgraab. My parents and sisters are joining me here tomorrow...” Galeas looked at the clock and frowned. “Hmm... make that later today. How soon will we be able to see Morgana?”
“I’ve put a no visitor order on the ICU for the next 24 hours. We can’t risk Morgana getting any infection so we need to ensure the least possible contamination of that whole intensive care area. Perhaps you should take Thornton home and see that he eats something and gets some rest. I don’t think he’s in great shape. I’ll take you two back to reception.”
“Thank you Dr Landgraab.” Galeas said propelling a dazed Thornton by the arm.
As they made their way out of the hospital, Galeas pondered whether Thornton’s genuinely distressed state was for more for Morgana’s condition or his potential lost fortune in hospital shares.
Dr Landgraab hummed to himself as he left the hospital in the early hours of the morning. There was just something reassuring about being around Galeas duGaunnes. Because of his name, Geoffrey assumed Galeas was part French, like himself, but he also felt like he’d known the man all his life. Especially as the name Gaunnes was irrevocably entwined with his own family. But that was his family’s secret, unknown even to Nancy. But perhaps that’s the reason Geoffrey had always felt so protective of Morgana and why he’d come to regard her almost like the little sister he’d often wished he had.
Galeas reminded him of someone he knew; but racking his tired brain, Geoffrey could not recall who. On arriving home, he checked his personal email account and found the news he’d been waiting for from his older brother Aeron. Firstly, Geoffrey was finally an uncle and secondly, their father had authorised Geoffrey’s proposal to investigate the shady dealings at the Sacred Spleen Hospital.
Drawing a bath to soak his tired muscles, Geoffrey pondered the two pieces of news but the birth of his nephew pleased him the most. He almost laughed aloud as he remembered his brother’s vocal rebellion of their father’s insistence that he must carry on the family tradition which dated back to the dark ages. When Aeron stayed single well into his 30’s he was sent to France to visit their grandfather and came back a changed man. Aeron gave up his decadent lifestyle, took over the family business and married a lovely girl. Now the pride in his voice as Aeron announced the birth of his son, Aeron Elyan Almandy, the 48th, was unmistakable.
Geoffrey had a sudden revelation. That’s who Galeas duGaunnes reminded him of: a face from one of the old paintings in his ancestral home in France. Although centuries old, the paintings had been painstakingly restored about a year before their great-grandfather died. Geoffrey was only about Malcolm’s age when Aeron and he accompanied their father to France for the funeral of their great-grandfather.
Although far older and less ostentatious than the nearby Champs les Sims Castle, the Manor House at West Almandy had been his family’s pile since about 537AD (by the old Julian calendar). The Manor House had secret passages and hidden underground cellars which were exciting for the two young boys to explore. Although the Manor House had been rebuilt and restored several times over the centuries, it had remained essentially the same design. But with each rebuild, new underground chambers had been added and old long-lost ones rediscovered.
In one of the secret underground chambers were many paintings and artefacts kept in the same climate controlled enclosures as the art works in the Louvre in Paris. In addition to the usual family portraits, the Almandy collection depicted many famous historical events, including the two world wars, the Napoleonic wars, the French revolution, the Battle of Hastings but to name a few. But the most incredible were those paintings said to be the mythical Battle of Camlann, the final battle of Camelot and the Knights of the Round Table.
If one believed the family history, those very paintings were commissioned by the first Aeron of Almandy in 537AD. They supposedly depicted the actual events of Camelot’s last days. In another chamber were the artworks and artefacts removed from the Castle of Gaunnes before it was ransacked by the Frankish army, and front and centre had been a large painting depicting Sir Galahad leading the quest for the Holy Grail flanked by his cousin, Sir Bors the Younger and Sir Perceval and surrounded by the ladies of the court of Camelot. While not believing every word of the family legend, the paintings had ignited in Geoffrey a lifelong interest with the Arthurian legends. But it was that painting to which Galeas bore the most startling resemblance to Sir Galahad. Geoffrey knew every inch of that painting and could visualise every brushstroke. He knew he was not mistaken, the likeness was uncanny.
Geoffrey Landgraab shook his head at his imaginings. He would sound insane if he said to anyone that he had met the replica of Sir Galahad. Geoffrey reasoned it was just his exhausted brain that was making that leap of logic. Although, he reasoned, he was not so tired that he didn’t recall that when Morgana Wolff had discovered his Arthurian fascination, she had admitted to her boss that her parents shared his love of medieval things. Morgana had reminisced about her childhood filled with medieval fairs, elves, witches and dragons.
As he climbed into bed beside a sleeping Nancy, Geoffrey was saddened that he may never hear those reminisces again because Morgana’s medial temporal lobe had been so badly injured, that he had to remove some of the tissue. How Morgana’s memory would be affected, was as yet unknown, but Geoffrey knew that it would be nothing short of a miracle if she didn’t have irreversible retrograde amnesia.
That night Geoffrey dreamt about Morgana’s family as he imagined them with Galeas and Lance transformed into Sir Galahad and Sir Lancelot coming to the aid of the injured fairy, Morgan le Fay...
