He cleared his throat, announcing their presence as a woman marched into the room.
“Ah, Mr. Sharapov, they told me you were waiting in here,” Mrs. Abigail Flatley, Gam-Gam's case manager, said.
After a weekend of digging and a frenzy of phone calls that very morning, Ari had found out that when the report of neglect had been made, Abby Flatley had been brought in to determine the extent of the alleged abuse. If Gam-Gam was ever to be released back into Valentine's care, it would Abby Flately's decision.
Ari had spoken with Abby several times on the phone that morning, working to reschedule a meeting she'd had with Valentine the very next day, and doing it all at the alleged request of Valentine herself. Of course that was a bald faced lie, but big gains required big risks.
“Thanks for seeing us on such short notice,” Ari said, stepping forward and offering his hand. Abby gave it a strong, hearty shake, then made her way to a seat at the table.
“What's going on? What are we doing here?” Valentine finally spoke, obviously struggling to keep her voice civil.
“Mr. Sharapov called me early this morning, saying you wanted to reschedule your meeting for now. He told me he's your grandmother's legal representation,” Abby said, giving them both a confused glance.
“He's -” Valentine started, but Ari didn't give her a chance to continue. She was still angry at him, and possibly enough to deny help that she very much needed.
“Offering my services pro-bono,” he interrupted, and watched a light dawned in her eyes. Then he dropped his briefcase onto the table before sitting down again. “Health and medical law aren't my areas of expertise, but Grandma Parker is a very special woman, so of course I had to help.”
“He's in corporate law,” Valentine piped up. She'd obviously gotten over her confusion and curiousity, and was now pissed that he was meddling. “And he hasn't been a part of this, he doesn't even know what's going on.”
Ari looked over some sheets of paper that had been faxed to him just a couple hours ago.
“Roughly three weeks ago, IDHS received a call alleging elder neglect,” he said, skimming over the details. “They named Mrs. Parker the neglected, and Ms. O'dell the neglecter, which resulted in IDHS denying Ms. O'Dell visitation rights while her grandmother was sick and in the hospital.”
“Yeah, but they started allowing me to visit at her facility now,” Val said. “So I don't under-”
“A basic, cursory examination of Mrs. Parker's medical files, as well as any public records pertaining to her, will show that Ms. O'Dell has not only been an exemplary primary care giver, but has often times gone above and beyond what was necessary. She has worked multiple jobs to pay for her grandmother's medical care, kept meticulous accounting records of her grandmother's financial affairs, hired not one but two qualified nurses, as well as a live-in assistant to help monitor Mrs. Parker's well being. Those nurses both vouched for Ms. O'Dell after the case had been brought against her.”
“Yes, we have all the records you mentioned,” Mrs. Flatley said, going through her own stack of papers.
“I handed them over right away whenever they were asked for,” Valentine added. “I brought them down here myself.”
“You are aware that Ms. O'Dell is Mrs. Parker's medical proxy,” Ari said, going over some other papers. The social worker nodded.
“Yes, we have that on record.”
“She's Mrs. Parker's legal power-of-attorney, as well,” he continued, and both women nodded.
“All paperwork we have on record, Mr. Sharapov,” Abby said. “Valentine applied for medical assistance for her grandmother several months ago, that's when a file was originally started for Mrs. Parker.”
“So you're saying IDHS already had proof of the excellent care Ms. O'Dell was providing for her grandmother,” Ari said, raising his eyebrows. “And proof of her guardianship of her grandmother. And yet in response to one phone call alleging possible abuse, IDHS withheld Mrs. Parker from receiving any sort of care or stewardship from her legal power-of-attorney.”
Valentine's eyes got wide, while Abby Flatley's eyes suddenly looked very wary and nervous.
Good.
“We understand that it's a sensitive situation, but we must treat all calls seriously – it's protocol,” she said, clasping her hands together.
“It's protocol to launch an investigation – it was unnecessary and quite possibly damaging to Mrs. Parker's health to deny her contact with her granddaughter. How was Ms. O'Dell supposed to make informed decisions regarding her grandmother's medical care when she wasn't even allowed in a room with her? Wasn't allowed to check on her to see how she was doing in the hospital?”
“In cases of abuse, we find it's best -”
“But this wasn't abuse,” Ari shut his briefcase dramatically, the sound echoing in the small room, causing Valentine to jump in her seat. “This was an allegation of neglect. Alleged neglect. From an unknown source which provided no other details about Ms. O'Dell or her grandmother. Therefore, it is my belief that IDHS caused direct and possibly irreparable harm to Mrs. Parker, as well as emotional trauma to both Mrs. Parker and Ms. O'Dell, simply based on a phone call from a person who quite possibly doesn't even know either of them.”
Valentine's jaw had dropped again, and he noticed she hadn't taken her eyes off him since he'd started speaking. He didn't look back at her, though. He kept his steely eyed gaze directly on the social worker, who was looking angrier and angrier by the second.
“Really, I feel 'irreparable' is going a bit far, it was only a couple day-” she tried to argue.
“How many days were you denied access to your grandmother?” Ari asked, finally looking at Val. She sputtered for a moment.
“Uh ... a little over a week.”
Ari looked down at the lone sheet of paper he'd left on the table.
“According to her medical records, in those nine days she was denied access, Mrs. Parker suffered from migraines, gastric distress, a cold, a UTI, and a kidney infection. At her age and state of health, any of those could have been life threatening, and because of her age and state of health, all of those things have contributed to a further degradation of her mental state. Before entering the hospital, Mrs. Parker needed very little prompting to recognize her granddaughter – now she has trouble remembering her own name. It is my belief, as well as her doctors, that if she had been allowed to see Ms. O'Dell and communicate with her, that would've greatly reduced her stress while in the hospital, and could have possibly prevented some – if not all – of the aforementioned health issues,” Ari rattled everything off.
Of course none of that wasn't necessarily true. Gam-Gam had been a pretty sick woman before going to the hospital, that hadn't been about to change, regardless of whether or not Valentine was by her side. But IDHS couldn't prove it wasn't true, that was for damn sure.
And Ari wasn't a good lawyer for nothing.
“This is ridiculous,” Abby huffed and puffed at him. “We are not responsible for Mrs. Parker's current medical condition.”
“I think we have a strong case that says you are,” he countered. “I'm strongly encouraging my clients to sue IDHS, as well as Cook County, for damages to cover the emotional and medical struggles you've forced upon them.”