spellcaster's disease - chapter 11

8/14/2019 Spellcaster's Disease - Chapter 11

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Chapter 11 – No one ever wants to be in Chapter 11

No one likes going to court. Obviously defendants don’t want to be there - they

could end up owing a ton of cash, tossed in jail, or at the very least stuck with hours of

community service. Plaintiffs wouldn’t be there unless they were hurt. Judges have a

tough job, and even if they think they’re doing a good deed, it has got to wear them out.

The court reporter has to type a billion words per minute, which sounds like a tough job

to me. Hell, even most lawyers would rather settle out of court, get paid, and be saved a

lot of time. I guess there’s the occasional ambulance-chaser, looking for a frivolous suit

to make a buck, but they’re only in court for long enough to settle.

I looked over my summons. The case was the Chiropractic Board of California

vs. Dr. Steven Shao. I was the defendant. Damn.

Looking over it more, this had to do with a patient undergoing a bypass, not

named but who could only be one Mr. Benjamin. Oddly enough, there was no mention of

Dr. Maharin or his institute on the page, or in any court document anywhere. There was

no way I was going into this fight alone, so I immediately called Maharin. I got some

intern who said that they’d call me right back.

After a day of waiting, I got sick of waiting and drove right over to the Maharin

Institute.

It didn’t take me long to notice the differences from the last time I was here. For

starters, a chain-link fence with a green plastic sheet wrapped around the whole place.

The green stuff covered the building as well, along with some scaffolding. As I got

closer, I could hear the sounds of deconstruction – lots of smashing, though without the

sounds of power tools.



A foreman in a hard hat met stopped me at the gate. “Hey, this is a construction

zone, you can’t go in.”

I wasn’t going to let that stop me. “I need to talk to Dr. Maharin, it’s urgent.”

Without even thinking about it, I picked up the man with one hand and set up down to the

side.

Maybe I figured out super strength right then. I guess so. My skin didn’t crack or

anything. The weird thing was that the foreman didn’t seem surprised. He just checked

his list and said, “Oh, I didn’t know anymore workers were coming in today. What was

your name?”

“Wait, what? I’m not a worker?”

“Worker, magic demolition specialist, whatever. You’ve got the muscle, we need

some work done, yadda yadda.”

Playing along seemed like the proper course of action. “Thank you. I’m

supposed to talk to a Dr. Maharin.”

“Yeah, I know that’s what they said, but he’s not here. I just need check you in,

you know, to get paid and stuff.”

“I don’t think I’m on your list. I didn’t give anyone my full name.”

This was met with a sigh. “Jeez, I’ve been getting this all day. Look, you can

trust us. We’re getting you a good job and we won’t report you to any black suits with

tin-foil hats. Just give me your info, and we’ll get you to work.”

“You sure Dr. Maharin’s not here?”

“If he was, I’d have dragged his ass out here to do this shit a long time ago. Now

do you want to get paid or not?”



I shook my head. “I’m not doing anything till I talk to Dr. Maharin.”

“Like I haven’t heard that one today.”

Walking away, I saw a few others heading toward the construction site. None of

them looked like your typical construction worker. Hell, most of them didn’t seem to

have exercised a day in their life, but if they could get a job, why not? See, even though

the construction industry made the adjustment pretty quickly, most other industries had a

hell of a time figuring out how to utilize magic. That led to fear. Fear leads to decreased

spending. Decrease spending leads to recessions. Recessions lead to layoffs. Layoffs

lead to 50 something overweight office stooges coming to this construction site because

they found out one day that they could lift a car.

Or maybe push a dumpster full of concrete slabs. I had to avoid a guy pushing a

twenty-foot steel cart full of that junk. He was only sweating a little.

I was sweating a lot that night. My lawyer sent me a summary of the charges

against me, and that left me with some hard reading despite the fact that he boiled it down

to a single page. I was being charged with practicing medicine without a license. Damn.

This was something I was afraid of, and wouldn’t have been a problem if I could find Dr.

Maharin. I tried to distract myself by practicing super strength or making a fireball in my

hand. I guess I figured out that super strength means that stuff still feels heavy, even

though you can move it, and that fire makes your hand hot.

Still, I was more concerned with possibly losing my license, being fined a ton of

money, and just the uncertainty of court. I had done a pretty good job staying out of

court. I didn’t even go for sketchy patients that would require me to testify in court. I

was a good, law-abiding citizen. I did the right thing.



It didn’t matter. A couple days later, I was walking up the steps in downtown and

passing through the metal detectors of the courthouse. My lawyers told me that this was

usually a short proceeding. They’d lay out the charges, we’d set up our defense, and a

judge would rule. Unless they could find more holes in the prosecution’s case, we

couldn’t press for an extension.

I still hadn’t heard a peep from Maharin. And this whole thing was his fault too.

He should be the one giving me a legal defense team, one that could pour over the case

and sniff out every little loophole.

I had one guy. I met up with him in front of the courtroom.”

“Hey, Dr. Shao. Try to relax. We’ll have better luck if you don’t look so angry.”

I guess it showed. “What’s the game plan?”

“Well, at the very least, the board’s going to ask for an injunction against magical

treatment of patients.”

“What’s at the very most?”

“They’ll revoke your license, fine you every dollar you made through non-

permitted activity, as they’ll call it, and basically wreck you.”

Great.

My lawyer seemed a bit more hopeful. “We’ve got an ace up our sleeve though.”

“What, Johnnie Cochran rise from the dead to help?”

“Nope, but we’ve got the next best thing.”

Now, I’ve probably watched too many movies in my life, but what I saw

approaching me seemed almost too much cinematic to be real. Four men approached, all

in Armani suits, carrying thousand dollar briefcases, and marching in step. Each of them



held their head high, almost scoffing at every other lawyer around them. It was almost

like they knew they could sue you, take all your money, and you wouldn’t be able to do

anything about it. They marched up to me and shook my hand.

“Hello, Dr. Shao. We represent the firm of Stanbeck and Glover. We’re here to

make sure you win this case.”

The only thing I could think of to say was, “Thank you.” Then they ushered me

inside. The judge and the Board’s attorneys seemed intimidated by my newly found legal

team. So did my lawyer. Hell, I was intimidated, but they were on my side.

I think.

The judge did the best job of hiding his emotion. He focused on a file as the

bailiff read in a monotone. “This court calls to order the case of the Chiropractic Board

of California versus one Doctor Steven Shao, DC. Being a non-criminal case, the

decision will be rendered by the honorable Judge Carl Moritz. If you wish further

pursuit, an appeal can be filed at the completion of this case. Do you have any

questions?”

I had lots of questions, but since my legal team shook their heads, I decided to just

sit tight and shut up.

The Judge turned to the prosecution. “You may present your case.”

The Prosecutor stood up and gave me a once-over. He had that look of a cop

who’d been on the beat a little too long. “Thank you, your honor. Today’s case is simple.

Dr. Shao here is either guilty of the charge of practicing medicine without a license, or

he’s just another scam artist trying to screw over the public for a quick buck. There are



no alternatives. I ask you to simply use your logic here today. I see he brings an entire

legal team to fight his war. Such a team must not be cheap.”

“Objection your honor. We are not on trial here.” My legal team was quick.

“Sustained. Do you have any further comments?”

The Prosecutor blinked for a moment. “Uh, no your honor. That is all.” Then he

sat down. It almost seemed like he lost his confidence, but I didn’t care.

“Defense, any opening remarks?”

My lawyers all huddled for a moment. Then the leader of my new team stood.

“Hello, my name is Jeremiah Stanbeck and I know what you’re thinking. What is a big

time defense attorney like Jeremiah Stanbeck doing defending a simple case like this?

He must have been paid a lot of money. So, let me just end those thoughts now. My

associates and me are doing this free of charge. That is correct, we are completely pro

bono here today. Now, why would be passing up thousands of dollars for this? That’s

what we’ll find out today.”

When Mr. Stanbeck sat down, he had everyone’s attention. I was sure impressed,

and I’m sure everyone else in the room felt the same way. Looking over the room

though, I saw a familiar face.

Dr. Maharin.

He smiled at me. I think I glared back. I mean, he could have contacted me days

ago. And yeah, I’m sure I’d be doing a lot worse without this legal team, but dude, a

little communication maybe?

The prosecutor’s voice snapped me back to the problem at hand. “Our case is

simple. According to these subpoenaed files, Dr. Shao was a treating physician for a



patient’s quadruple bypass surgery. Bank files indicate that he was paid one million

dollars for this surgery. This is beyond a Chiropractor’s scope of practice, as defined by

the state of California. Surgery is not allowed. These are the facts of the case, and they

cannot be challenged.”

“Objection your honor.”

“Sustained. Remove the prosecution’s last statement from the record.”

Thing is, the Prosecutor was right. There was no way any legal finagling could

make surgery legal with my license.

But Mr. Stanbeck was going to try. “Your honor, I submit to you pictures of the

patient, both before and after his procedure. What do you see?”

The Judge looked over the pictures and said, “I’m not sure what I’m looking for?”

“You are looking for signs of a surgery.”

“Both pictures look exactly the same. Just a man’s chest, the only difference is

the time stamp.”

“Do you see any sutures? Do you see any scars? No, you do not. And what

surgery can be performed without an incision? Now, Dr. Shao’s license allows him to

treat, but not to pierce the skin. I see no signs of pieced skin.”

“Objection, your honor. We will discuss this issue when we have Dr. Shao on the

stand.”

All eyes turned to me.

“Perhaps we should hear from Dr. Shao.”

My legal team huddled. Then Mr. Stanbeck spoke. “The defense requests a short

recess.”



“Very well. We will return at 1:00 this afternoon for a continuation of these

proceedings.” There was a thump of the gavel and everyone exited.

Mr. Stanbeck whispered to me. “If you’re going onto the stand, you won’t be

answering any questions unless I’m the one asking you first, do you understand?”

“So, I take the fifth.”

“That’s right. We’ll call you up if we think we need it, but for now, let’s keep that

ace up our sleeve.”

He patted me on the shoulder and went to speak with the Prosecutor. Maybe he

was offering them an out or a deal. I didn’t really know how these things worked, but at

the moment, a little slap on the wrist or an injunction saying, “Don’t do that again,”

seemed fine to me.

I found myself alone for a moment, but I had someone to speak to as well. I

dashed into the back and caught Dr. Maharin as he was about to exit. He turned and

spoke with a grin. “The legal team I assembled for you seems to be doing their job.”

“Finally you show up! I’ve been trying to reach you…”

“All week. Yes, I am quite aware of your predicament.”

“And now you finally show up. Just to watch the judge throw the book at me?

Jeez, I’m one step away from Chapter 11.”

“My legal team will do their job. You have nothing to worry about. If necessary,

we’ll provide financial compensation like last time.”

“Yeah, but that’s why I’m here. And those guys could have helped a lot more

three days ago. I wouldn’t even be here if you’d have gotten off your ass.”

“No, everything is proceeding properly.”



My heart skipped a beat when I heard him say that. Or maybe my mind skipped a

thought, you know, the thought that tells you how to stay under control and not go

completely ape-shit? It was just for a second. Then my eyes burned, and would have

shot fire at him if they knew how. It was hard to keep my voice down, especially when I

needed to get my emotion across. Through clenched teeth, I said, “What the fuck are you

saying?”

“What I am saying is that there will be no deals or agreements. This trial will

proceed to a verdict and a judgment, no matter how long it takes.”

spellcaster's disease - chapter 11

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