Black-Belt Cop Choked a Nurse in Sparring — Then Her Navy SEAL Past Made Him Regret It
Chapter 12
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"Who handles the notation?" she asked."It goes to the department director, Dr. Mallory Fitch."Savannah had worked under Dr. Fitch for four years. They didn't have what she'd call a warm relationship: Fitch was demanding, often preemptive in her criticism, the kind of supervisor who assumed errors before they happened and said so. But she was fair, and she'd told Savannah once, after a particularly difficult mass-casualty event, that she was exactly the kind of nurse the ER couldn't afford to lose."I need to see her today," Savannah said."She's got a full morning.""I know. I need to see her anyway."She went in, changed, and went directly to Dr. Fitch's office, which was a calculated decision because waiting was worse than interrupting. She knocked, entered when called, and stood in front of the desk without sitting until Fitch gestured impatiently at the chair."I assume this is about the HR notation," Fitch said."Yes. I haven't read it fully.""I know. I wanted to get to you before you did." Savannah had spent the walk over deciding how much to say and in what order. "There's a situation with a member at my training gym. He's a police officer. There's an Internal Affairs investigation in progress, and he became aware of it this week. The complaint to HR is retaliatory."Fitch looked at her over her reading glasses. "You're part of an IA investigation?""As a witness. I was present during a training incident in which this officer applied a chokehold to a training partner and refused to release it despite repeated tap signals. I provided a statement.""And you believe he contacted HR in response?""The timing is specific," Savannah said. "Within 72 hours of being informed the investigation was proceeding."Fitch was quiet for a moment, tapping the arm of her chair. She was the kind of person who thought before she spoke, which Savannah generally appreciated and was particularly grateful for now."I'll need documentation from the IA process. Something that establishes you're an official witness, not a subject.""I can get that.""If you can, the notation gets flagged as pending review and doesn't progress. If you can't provide it in 48 hours, I have to let the HR process move forward.""I understand," Savannah said. "48 hours."She left Fitch's office and went immediately to a supply closet she used sometimes when she needed 60 seconds alone. She stood in the dark with bleach and gauze and the particular smell of institutional cleaning products, and allowed herself to feel the full weight of what was happening without performing calmness about it.Dale Rork was organized. He was strategic. He'd looked at her situation and found the point of maximum vulnerability: not her physical safety, which he couldn't threaten directly without consequences, but her professional record—the thing she'd built to replace what she'd walked away from, the thing she needed in order to have a future that looked like the one she'd chosen.She breathed. She counted to ten. She came out of the supply closet and texted Sandoval's number directly: I need documentation of my witness status. Something formal. There's been a retaliatory action at my workplace. She paused, then added: I need it in 48 hours.