Chapter 16 - The Examination
Friday morning arrived under a clean, washed-blue sky.
At eight o’clock sharp, I sat across a polished mahogany desk in the Department of Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Florida Medical Center. Dr. Catherine Wallace, a woman in her late fifties with sharp gray eyes and an immaculate white coat, reviewed the legal paperwork Marcus had transmitted ahead of my arrival.
"Mrs. Hayes," Dr. Wallace said, adjusting her spectacles. "Your attorney explained the nature of Monday’s emergency conservatorship hearing. To defeat a mercenary evaluation like the one Dr. Mercer submitted, we cannot simply rely on standard memory screenings. We are going to conduct a full, four-hour battery: the Halstead-Reitan, the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, executive functioning indices, and a forensic competency evaluation."
"Take as long as you need, Doctor," I replied, sitting with my hands folded in my lap. "Test every corner of my mind. I have nothing to hide, and I have nothing to fabricate."
For the next four hours, I worked through complex geometric patterns, recited nine-digit number sequences backwards, interpreted archaic legal statutes, and balanced multi-column ledgers under time constraints. When she presented me with simulated financial portfolios and asked me to calculate interest compounding under shifting federal rates, I solved the third equation in my head before she finished handing me the pencil.
At twelve-thirty, Dr. Wallace set her clipboard down and looked at me with an expression that was half professional respect, half amusement.
"Mrs. Hayes," she said, leaning back in her leather chair. "In forty-two years of forensic psychological practice, I have rarely seen a mind as organized, resilient, and cognitively agile as yours. Your executive functioning score places you in the ninety-eighth percentile for adults of *any* age group. You have the cognitive stamina of a seasoned corporate comptroller."
"I was a comptroller, Doctor," I smiled softly. "I just wasn't paid for it. My client was a family that mistook silence for weakness."
Dr. Wallace opened her laptop. "I am drafting an expedited forensic summary right now. I will attach my certified curriculum vitae and have three notarized copies hand-delivered to Judge Albright’s chambers by three o’clock this afternoon. Furthermore, I am filing a formal ethical complaint against Dr. Julian Mercer with the Florida Board of Medicine for signing an incapacity affidavit without having conducted an in-person clinical interview."
I stood up, smoothed my skirt, and extended my hand. "Thank you, Dr. Wallace."
May you like
"Don't thank me, Mrs. Hayes," she said, shaking my hand with firm warmth. "Go to that courtroom on Monday and take back what is yours."
***
