WEBVTT - Betrayal Weekly: EP 15 - Tammi 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:05.560 My mom used to always joke around and say, oh, 0:00:05.600 --> 0:00:08.080 you never marry a doctor because he knows how to 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:14.280 kill you and get away with it. She always said that, 0:00:15.600 --> 0:00:17.799 so I always had that in the back of my mind. 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:34.920 I'm Andrea Gunning and this is Betrayal, a show about 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.879 the people we trust the most and the deceptions that 0:00:38.000 --> 0:00:45.360 change everything. Tammy McCrary is a polite, easygoing woman. She's 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:49.000 quick to laugh and to make herself laugh. She says 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:51.440 that above all, her kids are her world. 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:55.840 I have three children, and I treat all of them 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:59.920 as though they are the only and now my grandchildren. 0:01:00.200 --> 0:01:05.840 Oh those grandkids. That's a whole nother level of love. 0:01:09.000 --> 0:01:11.320 Tammy grew up in Atlanta, where she was raised by 0:01:11.319 --> 0:01:15.160 her mother. She was an only child, just her, her mom, 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.400 and her mom's sister. As a kid, Tammy dreamed of 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:20.200 having a nuclear family of her own. 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:24.639 Most of my friends were in a two parent home. 0:01:26.319 --> 0:01:30.559 I did not have the family structure of father and mom, 0:01:31.440 --> 0:01:35.440 so I admired that I wanted to have that for 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:37.160 myself and for my children. 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:40.559 In high school, Tammy started dating a guy she'd grown 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:40.920 up with. 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:44.960 We hadn't known each other a long time and he'd 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:48.480 always teased me about being his wife. 0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:52.400 It was a joke at first because Tammy had other plans. 0:01:52.960 --> 0:01:55.920 I had planned to go to college, but when she 0:01:56.000 --> 0:02:00.000 was seventeen, I found out that I was expected. 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.920 Tammy's college plans were put on hold and the two 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:07.560 got married. 0:02:08.320 --> 0:02:12.040 We both attended the same church, so we had a 0:02:12.080 --> 0:02:12.720 small wedding. 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.960 They loved being young parents. Looking back, she says it 0:02:17.000 --> 0:02:20.079 was easier for them than she expected. By the time 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:22.520 they were twenty, the young couple bought a house in 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:23.919 the suburbs of Atlanta. 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:28.680 I am an only child, he's an only child, and 0:02:28.760 --> 0:02:34.639 we both came from middle class backgrounds, so we didn't 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:39.320 have those struggles that you would think that a young 0:02:39.840 --> 0:02:40.560 couple would have. 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:44.560 They were stable and surrounded by community. Tammy and her 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:46.840 husband had a second child a few years later. 0:02:47.760 --> 0:02:54.000 I had so much support from my mom, from his parents, 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:58.119 and I had an aunt that was like a mom 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.640 to meet, So I was all about kids. That was 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:03.080 my life. 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:05.440 When her kids started school and she had more time 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:08.000 on her hands, things started changing for Tammy. 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:13.600 I just got to this place where I wanted more. 0:03:14.800 --> 0:03:18.760 I wanted to do more the time that I would 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:23.840 have been in college, you know, having that freedom. I 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:26.840 was a mom and I was a wife, so I 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:27.320 missed it. 0:03:28.400 --> 0:03:31.080 She wanted to grow her career, and she realized she 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:34.640 missed out on so much in her early twenties. Maybe 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:36.360 there was more out there for her. 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:42.240 I remember getting all of this attention from these guys. 0:03:42.760 --> 0:03:44.960 I was like, am I really bad attractive? 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:48.400 She was coming into her own and reevaluating what she wanted, 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:50.680 including her marriage with her husband. 0:03:51.160 --> 0:03:55.880 He was like, I'm not dealing with this. Either you 0:03:56.000 --> 0:03:58.320 want to be married or you don't. 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:02.840 Ultimately, she decided she didn't want to be married, so 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:06.400 they separated and Tammy got a job as a flight attendant. 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:06.880 Based out of Chicago. 0:04:07.440 --> 0:04:09.400 She was able to work and travel one week and 0:04:09.440 --> 0:04:12.080 be home full time with her kids the next. But 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.000 in Chicago, she got into a horrible car accident. 0:04:16.600 --> 0:04:20.440 It was actually a situation where I was pronounced dead. 0:04:21.960 --> 0:04:26.880 It took me about six months to a year to 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:33.520 recover from that car accident. After she recovered, her priorities changed. 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:36.560 I no longer wanted to be away from my kids. 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:37.680 That was the main thing. 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:39.920 So she moved back to Atlanta and got a job 0:04:39.960 --> 0:04:42.320 where she could work from home and focus entirely on 0:04:42.320 --> 0:04:43.960 giving her kids stability. 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:49.560 I pushed for them to have the best education. I 0:04:49.960 --> 0:04:54.600 never wanted them to feel a difference in their lives 0:04:54.600 --> 0:04:56.520 and the lives of their peers. 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.400 Every other weekend, her kids would stay with their father, 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:02.440 and on the weekend she had to herself. 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:06.039 I was hanging out with my cousin, his wife, and 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:10.480 their friends. We had our little crew, our little clique, and. 0:05:10.480 --> 0:05:12.839 Her cousin would try to set her up on dates. 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:19.400 They were a professional, successful men, bowyers, doctors. But I 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:24.360 wasn't interested in dating. I want to be a single mom. 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:27.800 But my kids and I we travel, you know, we 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:30.839 do things, and life is still good. 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:34.880 On one of these weekends, Tammy, her cousin, and their 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:36.279 friends decided. 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:38.880 On a whim to go out to a nightclub. It's 0:05:38.880 --> 0:05:44.200 a pretty wild scene. I can remember some women being 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:49.400 barely dressed. I had never been before. But you know, 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:53.040 I'm just hanging with the crowd, she admits to feeling 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.640 a little out of place. I may have just had 0:05:56.760 --> 0:06:04.920 on jeans and a sweater, definitely no club gear, nothing sexy. 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:08.800 But she was still getting plenty of attention and even 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:11.760 locked eyes with a guy across the bar, but I made. 0:06:11.680 --> 0:06:14.279 Eye contact with several people, so you know, it was 0:06:14.360 --> 0:06:19.640 nothing until he walked over to the area where we 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:23.480 were sitting and he just started throwing money over the area. 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:26.280 Back then, I think they called it making it rain, 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.800 and so he did that, and you know, we were 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:33.520 just laughing about it, and everyone was like, oh, drinks 0:06:33.520 --> 0:06:35.719 are on Tammy, because you know, they were picking up 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:42.799 their money. And then he came back and he introduced himself. 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:45.960 His name was Eric, and he told her he had 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:48.800 just moved to Atlanta for a fresh start. They hit 0:06:48.839 --> 0:06:50.880 it off and by the end of the night, she 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:51.880 gave him her number. 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:55.640 So crazy, because the rule of thumb was always you 0:06:55.720 --> 0:06:57.280 never met anyone in a club. 0:06:58.480 --> 0:07:01.000 Eric called her on Monday and asked her to lunch. 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:04.159 I didn't see the harm. I didn't see the harm 0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:04.480 in it. 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:07.560 At the time, Tammy worked as a loan officer and 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:09.920 Eric was looking to buy a home. It seemed like 0:07:09.960 --> 0:07:13.760 a possible opportunity for Tammy, and he just moved from Chicago, 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:17.640 where Tammy used to live. So over lunch they swapped stories. 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:23.360 I enjoyed his company very much. Soon he was very attentive. 0:07:24.040 --> 0:07:30.440 He was a great listener, and he definitely retained information. Well, 0:07:31.640 --> 0:07:34.600 that was an understatement. He was really smart. He went 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:40.160 to college really early. He graduated from high school pretty early, 0:07:40.920 --> 0:07:42.760 so it was like he was a whiz kid. 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:47.000 He said he'd been married before, but it ended abruptly. 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.720 He said that he walked in on her and another man, 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.160 so that was the end of the marriage. 0:07:54.480 --> 0:07:56.600 By the end of that lunch, she got the feeling 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:00.320 that this was their first date, and they scheduled another. 0:08:00.920 --> 0:08:04.480 And so, of course, you know, my next test is 0:08:04.560 --> 0:08:09.600 to take him around people, just to see how he 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:15.200 does or what they think about him. And he definitely 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:21.960 passed that test as well. But she was cautious about 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:25.160 who she brought around her kids. If I met someone, 0:08:25.520 --> 0:08:28.880 I didn't allow anyone to come to my home. We 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:30.000 would meet out. 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:34.800 Eric also worked remotely as an electrical engineer, so with 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:38.040 their flexible work schedules, they went on dates during the day. 0:08:38.440 --> 0:08:42.720 There was no nine to five schedule for neither one 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:46.679 of us, so there was a great deal of freedom. 0:08:47.080 --> 0:08:50.199 After a few months of casual dating, Tammy's life took 0:08:50.240 --> 0:08:53.200 a turn. The aunt, who was like a second mother 0:08:53.280 --> 0:08:56.120 to her, was living with Tammy at the time, and 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:59.800 her aunt started to get sick. One night, her health 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:01.040 declined rapidly. 0:09:02.000 --> 0:09:06.320 She was so ill I had to call paramedtings to 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:06.880 the house. 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:09.800 She called Eric to tell him that she was going 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.720 to the hospital and that she was worried. He wanted 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.120 to meet her there to be supportive and in the 0:09:15.400 --> 0:09:18.360 er together, she noticed something interesting about Eric. 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:26.120 He began interacting with the doctors about my aunt and 0:09:26.200 --> 0:09:32.040 her condition, all these medical terms. I'm curious, like, what 0:09:32.080 --> 0:09:32.680 does he know? 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:36.920 Eric had said he was an electrical engineer, but at 0:09:36.920 --> 0:09:39.520 the hospital he was talking as if he was a doctor, 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:42.880 like asking to see the results of tests and pressing 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:43.760 them to do others. 0:09:44.240 --> 0:09:48.800 At that time, I'm really like, what is going on? 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:53.960 And that's when he tells me he went to medical school. 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:55.199 He said he'd. 0:09:55.040 --> 0:09:59.120 Gone to med school at the University of Chicago. Another 0:09:59.200 --> 0:10:02.200 doctor in the room was familiar with the school, so 0:10:02.240 --> 0:10:06.320 the two started chatting about it. Timmy's aunt was stable 0:10:06.400 --> 0:10:08.800 enough to move out of the yr, and finally there 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.600 was an opportunity to ask Eric questions about his past 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:12.640 and medical school. 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:16.400 Now, I want to know, why aren't you doing that? 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:21.800 And that led to the conversation of him sharing with 0:10:21.880 --> 0:10:23.199 me his story. 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:28.400 His story was unlike anything she'd ever heard. It was 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:29.080 a nightmare. 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:34.360 He explained to me that his parents, along with his 0:10:35.040 --> 0:10:41.000 two sons, were taking a trip by car and they 0:10:41.040 --> 0:10:47.680 were involved in an accident with an eighteen wheeler. He 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:53.280 said the driver was Dui. He said one son may 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:58.319 have died on the scene. Father died on the scene, 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:05.119 and his mom and one son were in the hospital, 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:09.400 but they both passed before he arrived. 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:17.800 So I was just heartbroken. He's lost both parents, both children. 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:23.360 She sat there, stunted. He went on to explain that 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:27.120 the accident derailed his career. He just started working in 0:11:27.160 --> 0:11:29.760 the er when it happened, but he had to quit. 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:35.760 It was just so devastating for him to know that 0:11:36.360 --> 0:11:40.600 on a daily basis he's saving lives, but here it 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:44.360 is he's not able to save the lives of those 0:11:44.520 --> 0:11:49.280 that he loved the most. And so it was just 0:11:49.400 --> 0:11:55.240 too soon for him to go back into medicine. He 0:11:55.400 --> 0:11:56.439 just couldn't do it. 0:11:58.200 --> 0:12:01.520 Timmy herself had nearly died in a car accident. With 0:12:01.760 --> 0:12:04.120 Eric sitting in front of her in the hospital waiting room, 0:12:04.440 --> 0:12:08.280 holding back tears, she saw how resilient he was, just 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:11.200 like her. He'd fought for a new life and a 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:12.920 new career after a tragedy. 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:18.959 Of course, I'm saying, oh, yeah, I understand, I understand. 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:42.360 Eric opened up and shared that he was a doctor 0:12:42.440 --> 0:12:45.640 but had to stop practicing after a family tragedy. He 0:12:45.720 --> 0:12:48.920 lost his parents and two young children in a car accident. 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:53.360 These revelations and Eric's vulnerability brought he and Tammy closer. 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:57.320 Eventually they made it official. He started coming over to 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:00.400 her house, where he met her son. It was a 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.400 big step for Tammy. They would make dinner together and 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:04.720 watch a movie on the couch. 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:09.040 But on one of these nights, I remember it being 0:13:09.040 --> 0:13:14.240 a Sunday evening, and he received a phone call and 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:18.800 he wanted some privacy, so he actually came upstairs took 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.240 the phone call in my bedroom, and I just remember 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:25.680 him yelling for me. Of course, I ran upstairs to 0:13:25.679 --> 0:13:29.320 see what was going on, and he is just like 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:36.280 an emotional rick. He is crying. I was finally able 0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:38.880 to get him to share with me what was the problem, 0:13:38.960 --> 0:13:44.400 and that's when he told me that his stepdaughter had 0:13:44.440 --> 0:13:45.640 committed suicide. 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:50.600 Tragedy had struck his life again. It was his first 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.000 wife's daughter. He helped raise her. 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:57.600 Of course, I'm thinking, oh my gosh, this man. I know, 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:02.800 he's devastated, and I was just like, well, you know, 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.600 just stay here. You don't have to go anywhere. You 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:09.559 can just stay here with us. You definitely don't need 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.360 to be alone at this time with this devastating news. 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:16.120 You don't have anyone else. He just have us. And 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:21.280 so I think from that moment is when things really progressed. 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:25.360 After that, Eric started staying over most nights. He took 0:14:25.400 --> 0:14:27.760 the death hard, but he didn't want to talk about it. 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.840 He did tell me of his plans to pay for 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:33.960 her service, but he said that he could not bring 0:14:34.080 --> 0:14:35.560 himself to attend. 0:14:36.240 --> 0:14:39.760 He channeled his grief into their relationship. Doting on Timmy 0:14:39.880 --> 0:14:42.840 was a good distraction. He would go above and beyond 0:14:42.840 --> 0:14:43.640 to make her happy. 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:50.880 If I said I used to love these strawberry oreos, 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:53.960 but I haven't been able to find him. I don't 0:14:53.960 --> 0:14:57.480 even know if they make them anymore, he would pop 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:03.200 up with those strawberry oreos and say I had to 0:15:03.240 --> 0:15:05.840 reach out to some people over in Europe, but I 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:09.520 had them shipped and here they are. He was like 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:12.640 that those are the type things that he would do. 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:16.480 He even gave Timmy a nickname. I'd never had a 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:25.720 nickname never, but he gave me the name Princess. And 0:15:25.960 --> 0:15:29.440 I tell you just the way he said it, and 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:34.120 oh my gosh, and he treated her like one. He's 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:42.640 buying cards, flowers, no special occasions, just because he's writing coins. 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:48.600 Once I did introduce him to my clique of friends. 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.720 I mean, he was to say the most wonderful things 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:58.320 about me. It's like, oh wow, he really loves her that. 0:15:58.320 --> 0:16:00.600 He'd been dating for a few months when Eric said 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:04.080 he wanted to look at engagement rings together, so he 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:05.560 took her to a custom jeweler. 0:16:06.320 --> 0:16:10.320 He's telling the guy, you know what he wants and 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:15.040 he's talking about was a peerless dying. He wanted it 0:16:15.080 --> 0:16:18.960 in an antique setting, and I'm like, what is this? 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:25.200 I think it was ringing up over thirty thousand dollars. 0:16:25.840 --> 0:16:28.880 I mean, the way he put it together, it was beautiful. 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:30.800 So yeah, I was pretty excited. 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:33.280 She was ready to take the next step with him, 0:16:33.560 --> 0:16:35.760 but the safety of her family and her kids were 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.160 always her first priority. She didn't have the ability to 0:16:39.160 --> 0:16:42.000 meet his parents or his friends back in Chicago, so 0:16:42.000 --> 0:16:45.320 she took it upon herself to vet him. She called 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:48.040 her friend who was a private investigator. She gave him 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:50.480 Eric's name and birth date and asked him to run 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:51.280 a background check. 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:54.280 He came back and was like, oh, he's Coleen. So 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:55.280 I felt comfortable. 0:16:57.560 --> 0:17:01.400 The findings were reassuring. The next time the topic of 0:17:01.440 --> 0:17:04.000 marriage came up, she told him that's what she wanted. 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.640 So right then and there, Eric got down on one knee, 0:17:09.320 --> 0:17:10.680 but he didn't have the ring. 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:15.280 The ring that we looked at that he was planning 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:17.680 to get me that would have to be put on 0:17:17.840 --> 0:17:23.320 hold because of the money that he had to spend 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:27.480 for his stepdaughter's funeral arrangements. 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:30.399 She didn't care about the ring, especially when he was 0:17:30.400 --> 0:17:33.720 spending that money on something so important. Plus they'd both 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:37.760 been married before. They wann't something small anyway. Eric offered 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:39.960 to take the lead on planning their wedding and sending 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:41.000 out the invitations. 0:17:41.480 --> 0:17:46.000 I'm thinking, oh, wow, this is different because normally that's 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:51.600 the behavior of the woman. But he wants to do it, okay, 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:55.000 So I gave him a list and he created these 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:58.960 invitations and we sent them out and then I started 0:17:58.960 --> 0:17:59.880 getting the phone call. 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:09.480 Everyone was just saying Eric was a doctor, I said, what, Well, 0:18:09.520 --> 0:18:15.919 the invitation said doctor Eric Petite and Tammy, So of 0:18:15.960 --> 0:18:18.760 course you know, I reposed him. I said, did you 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:22.000 put on these invitations. 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.960 That you're a doctor because I never told anyone about that, 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:28.200 which I did because I felt he was no longer 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:33.880 practicing wasn't important. And he said, oh, yeah, yeah, I 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:37.960 did that. It was actually supposed to be a surprise. 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:40.800 That was going to be my wedding gift to you. 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:43.720 I was going to surprise he'd let you know that 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:47.160 once we come back from our honeymoon that I'm going 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:48.760 back into medicine. 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.199 Then he pulled out a folder of documents he'd been 0:18:51.240 --> 0:18:55.480 waiting to show her, his letters of recommendation and his 0:18:55.680 --> 0:18:57.240 offer letter from a hospital. 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:01.800 I said, and what brought this? And he says, well, 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:06.439 there's been some time, and I have you now, and 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:12.879 I really feel that you deserve a certain lifestyle and 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:17.800 I want to provide you with that lifestyle. I'll be 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:23.800 going to work and I'm just like wow, the choice 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:24.760 felt selfless. 0:19:24.960 --> 0:19:26.639 It meant a lot to her that he wanted to 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:27.800 provide for her family. 0:19:28.440 --> 0:19:32.960 He was like, just start looking at the top private schools, 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:37.840 and we need to start looking for another house because 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:42.080 I want us to be closer to the hospital. You 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.000 want to look at another house, you want to get 0:19:44.040 --> 0:19:47.639 a condo, whatever you want to do, just go do it. 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:51.600 Just start looking. And I'm just thinking, like, you know, 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:54.040 someone just called and told me that I have that 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:57.960 winning lottery ticket. All my numbers met. 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:02.840 He received an advance from the new job, so after 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.919 their intimate wedding ceremony, Eric paid for a honeymoon to 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:08.920 the Bahamas. He wanted the whole family to join them, 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:12.680 Tammy's kids and her mom. It was emotional for everyone 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:16.480 considering what he'd been through. They were his family now. 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:20.120 The vacation ended, but the honeymoon didn't. 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:24.960 And so when we returned, I remember him giving me 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:28.920 a check. It was a check for five thousand dollars, 0:20:29.280 --> 0:20:32.600 and he's like, moving forward, I'm taking care of all 0:20:32.640 --> 0:20:34.280 of the bills and everything. 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:38.240 That week, he started his job in one of Atlanta's. 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:45.160 Busiest yurs so that meant crazy hours. He was always working, 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:49.320 always on call. I can still remember some nights when 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:52.679 it was like two or three in the morning and 0:20:52.760 --> 0:20:56.040 he would receive a tics or a phone call and 0:20:56.080 --> 0:20:59.720 he would have to jump up and go to the hospital. 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:03.679 They shared a car, so every day Tammy drove him 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:06.679 to work and picked him up. One day, while Tammy 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:09.080 was driving, they came upon a car crash. 0:21:09.440 --> 0:21:13.120 It looked like it had just happened. The paramedics had 0:21:13.200 --> 0:21:17.359 not arrived yet, so he jumped out to check on 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:23.080 those that were involved and get their vitals. There was 0:21:23.160 --> 0:21:27.840 one person that seemed to have been critically injured. He 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:31.920 got out to help, and once the paramedics arrived, he 0:21:32.040 --> 0:21:37.840 was able to give them information on each victim. I 0:21:37.880 --> 0:21:40.960 was impressed, I must say, I was like, Wow, he 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:42.280 really knows what he's doing. 0:21:42.600 --> 0:21:46.359 He could have saved those people's lives. But this responsibility 0:21:46.440 --> 0:21:49.640 came at a price. His ships in the er were grueling. 0:21:50.080 --> 0:21:52.240 When she picked him up after work, he looked spent. 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:56.160 His scrubs were stained and wrinkled, and he would share 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:58.160 upsetting stories about what he'd seen. 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:07.000 I can remember once he was very disturbed because he 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:10.560 said that there was a child that came in with 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:16.520 an injury from the playground and he wasn't able to 0:22:16.600 --> 0:22:21.920 save the child and the child died. So of course 0:22:22.280 --> 0:22:27.480 it triggered memories of his children. The work was taking 0:22:27.520 --> 0:22:28.160 a toll on him. 0:22:28.160 --> 0:22:32.360 Emotionally changing him in more ways than one. 0:22:32.440 --> 0:22:38.200 He became somewhat arrogant. I didn't think anything about it, 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:42.040 you know, I was just thinking back, Okay, So he's 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:46.920 back in his zone, in his doctor's zone. So that's 0:22:46.960 --> 0:22:49.080 where all of that is coming from. 0:22:49.560 --> 0:22:53.000 On his days off, he rested and watched his favorite 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:59.720 TV show, episode after episode of Er that was his 0:23:00.000 --> 0:23:05.600 favorite Shaw. After a few months of marriage, they had 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:08.399 a routine. She dropped him off at work, he texted 0:23:08.400 --> 0:23:10.480 throughout the day to keep her updated on when he'd 0:23:10.480 --> 0:23:13.800 be done, and on the drive home, they debriefed. That 0:23:13.920 --> 0:23:17.120 was their thing. They did this day in and day out, 0:23:17.480 --> 0:23:20.600 week after week, until. 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:23.359 It was on a Sunday, we went to church and 0:23:23.960 --> 0:23:29.800 came back home, spent the afternoon together, and he said 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:34.760 he had to go in for the evening. But whenever 0:23:34.880 --> 0:23:39.320 he was away, he would always call and check in, 0:23:40.320 --> 0:23:42.679 see how things are going with myself, let me know 0:23:42.800 --> 0:23:46.199 what's going on with him. It was weird that this 0:23:46.359 --> 0:23:49.800 time I had not heard from him at all. I 0:23:49.920 --> 0:23:55.600 wasn't alarmed, and then the next morning still hadn't heard 0:23:55.640 --> 0:23:58.560 from him. And then once it started getting late into 0:23:58.640 --> 0:24:03.399 the morning, then I did start to worry. I tried 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:09.359 to call him on both cell phones. No answer, so 0:24:09.480 --> 0:24:12.240 of course I'm thinking, well, maybe he's tied up or whatever. 0:24:13.840 --> 0:24:17.399 After a while, I said, I've never called the hospital, 0:24:17.480 --> 0:24:23.439 but I'm calling today. And when I called, they're like, 0:24:24.080 --> 0:24:30.800 there's no one here with that name. Okay, well they 0:24:30.800 --> 0:24:34.440 don't know all of the doctors, you know, And I'm like, okay, 0:24:34.520 --> 0:24:37.600 let me try these cell phones again. And finally someone 0:24:37.720 --> 0:24:41.040 answers the cell phone, but it's not him. There was 0:24:41.080 --> 0:24:45.800 a security guard at the hospital. When I asked for him. 0:24:46.080 --> 0:24:49.920 The guy he's like, are you talking about the guy 0:24:50.080 --> 0:24:54.840 that had this cell phone? And I'm like, yeah, yeah, 0:24:55.160 --> 0:24:57.640 that's what I'm talking about. He's like, oh, yeah, well 0:24:58.160 --> 0:25:03.879 he was arrested last night or impersonating a doctor. 0:25:20.920 --> 0:25:23.680 Tammy hadn't heard from her husband and was getting concerned. 0:25:24.119 --> 0:25:27.160 Finally someone answered his cell phone. It was a security 0:25:27.160 --> 0:25:29.719 guard at the hospital who told her that Eric had 0:25:29.720 --> 0:25:34.119 been arrested last night for impersonating a doctor. And strangely, 0:25:34.320 --> 0:25:37.080 the security guard seemed to know Eric pretty well. 0:25:37.840 --> 0:25:40.480 He said, I don't know why you would do that 0:25:40.600 --> 0:25:45.639 because I had really grown to like him, so security 0:25:45.760 --> 0:25:47.200 they were familiar with him. 0:25:47.880 --> 0:25:51.280 Security knew him because Eric had been going into the 0:25:51.320 --> 0:25:54.520 hospital every day when she dropped him off. He got 0:25:54.560 --> 0:25:57.080 in using a forged ID card. 0:25:57.760 --> 0:26:02.280 He had a badge that actually belonged to a doctor, 0:26:03.080 --> 0:26:08.000 but he took that badge and put his picture on it. 0:26:08.520 --> 0:26:11.240 Every day for months, he strolled the hospital hallways and 0:26:11.359 --> 0:26:15.000