Fighting for Dear Life by David Gibbs Read Free Book Online Page A

paperwork and then told Rex to stay put while he walked the order into the hospice. With that, the policeman disappeared through the crowd. Sensing that something big was happening, members of the press started to drift in Rex’s direction.
    Just as Rex was about to be mobbed by journalists chasing the scent of a hot story, the officer returned to confirm the delivery. He also informed Rex that Terri would be taken by ambulance to the Morton Plant Hospital to have her feeding tube reinserted. As quickly as Rex had arrived, he slipped back to his truck. Making a U-turn, he started to drive away as a trail of cameras and news crews chased his vehicle.
    He could hear the press shouting a barrage of questions. . . . What’s your name? What are you doing? Are you with the family? Did the governor sign the bill? Is the hospice cooperating? Is Terri still alive?
    Rex drove on, ignoring their endless questions. You see, at that point we were not planning to let the news media know about our involvement in the behind-the-scenes process. After Rex returned to the office, we were about to head home for some much needed rest, but we found ourselves fighting the clock once again. That evening, at about eight o’clock, we received a most disturbing phone call.
    â€˜â€˜We have a real problem,’’ the caller said. ‘‘I have just received word that the Morton Plant Hospital doctors are refusing to reinsert Terri’s feeding tube!’’ Our source wanted to know if we’d heard anything about that allegation. We hadn’t. Nor could we understand why the hospital would disregard the governor’s order. We knew that the immunity clause for the doctors had been inserted into the bill.
    Having gone six days without food or water, if Terri didn’t receive hydration very soon, her internal organs would begin to shut down— probably beginning with her kidneys. Certainly the doctors and nurses would know that Terri’s situation was critical. Why, then, the delay? I dispatched Rex to be our eyes and ears on the ground yet again. Rex snatched another copy of the governor’s order, jumped into his truck, and rushed to Morton Plant Hospital, located a few miles north of our office.
    With Rex running to the hospital, we scoured our various news sources for any late-breaking developments. We quickly learned that George Felos had called another press conference. As Michael’s attorney, he announced that he was immediately going to court to have Terri’s Law and the governor’s order declared unconstitutional and a violation of the separation of powers.
    Another news source reported that Felos’s hearing on this matter would be postponed until a later time. It seemed obvious to us what was happening. The other side intended to stall as long as possible in hopes that Terri would expire and make the whole issue moot.
    As we were debating our options, we received another urgent phone call—this time from a friend at the hospital. We were told that Mr. Felos was already roaming the halls threatening to sue any doctor who reinserted the feeding tube—despite the immunity clause that was added at the last moment by the legislature. With Mr. Felos breathing threats, we were concerned that Rex might have no access upon his arrival. Just as the other side had managed to prevent unhindered access to Terri at the hospice, we believed Mr. Felos would be working to find a way to prevent Rex from helping Terri at the hospital.
    Now what?
    First, we called Rex on his cell phone to let him know he was about to walk into a hornet’s nest of resistance; we wanted him mentally prepared for a possible confrontation. We told Rex to keep driving and that we’d have a plan in place by the time he arrived at the hospital. Second, we remembered that one of the people who had contacted us while we were drafting Terri’s Law just happened to be the wife of the former chief of staff of