Teresa Martinez

Teresa Martinez, a character in the Open Heart series, was a patient at Edenbrook Hospital. She is first seen in Book 1, Chapter 2.

Appearance
Mrs. Martinez has brown eyes, shoulder-length gray hair, and tanned skin. She is usually seen in a blue hospital gown. Her casual outfit consists of a pink floral blouse under a blue sweater, and gray slacks.

Personality
She was warm and helpful, but also had a mischievous side to her (where she has pranked hospital staff throughout the years).

Book 1

 * Chapter 2: Code Blue
 * Chapter 4: Dolores
 * Chapter 11: Whatever it Takes
 * Chapter 12: Panacea
 * Chapter 13: Admission (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 14: Triage (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 15: Hearing Impaired  (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 17: The Oath (Mentioned)

Book 2

 * Chapter 1: Prognosis (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 11: Countdown (Mentioned; Determinant)
 * Chapter 15: Do No Harm (Mentioned)
 * Chapter 18: Inevitable (Mentioned; Determinant)

Ethan Ramsey
Because she has been a fixture in the hospital for nine years, Dr. Ramsey knows her. In Chapter 4, you see her walking down the hall with Ethan, overhearing him say that he was a scamp when he was a child. He says that she is the heart and soul of Edenbrook. She has known him long enough that she calls him Ethan instead of "Dr. Ramsey".

Your Character
"I would take a 99% chance of dying over spending the next ten years in this hospital. To have even a 1% chance of exploring the world... of finally standing on the steps of Sacre-Coeur... I would give everything."

- Mrs. Martinez to Your Character

When you first meet her in Chapter 2, you and Elijah are lost. She helps you and Dr. Greene find your bearings and directs you to the elevators. Most of your encounters with her in the beginning are brief, as you see her interact with other hospital staff. In Chapter 11, you find her walking around the wing where Naveen Banerji is located and talk to her to avoid her finding him. She tells you that she has always been curious and loved the idea of exploring. She would cut out pictures of far-off countries, buy postcards, and put them all over her walls. You also discover that she was diagnosed with a rare illness called Rhodes disease one year before her retirement. She needs to be treated daily and hasn't left the hospital for about ten years, so she never got to travel. Her family doesn't live near the hospital and travels are expensive, so they only come when they can. In her room, you comment on the large postcard collection, the oldest one being a present from her aunt in 1958.

You become determined to find a way to help her get out of the hospital. Your friends join your efforts and help you research for possible treatments and Bryce mentions she gave him her pudding cup on his first day as a welcome gift. You then discover that the same company that manufacturers her treatment, Panacea Labs, discovered that a drug they were marketing for Huntington's disease has also cured a percentage of Rhodes disease patients. However, the chance of the treatment being fatal at her age is 40 percent. You decide to bring it up to her as an option and tell her about the odds, but she feels hope that she hasn't felt in a long time and consents to it. Your paperwork for the treatment is denied by the drug manufacturer because it hasn't been fully tested, even for experimental use. However, in Chapter 12, you make it your mission to find a way to get it for her. When you do with the help of your friends, you reiterate the odds to her and she tells you she still wants to try. It appears to work for a few weeks, and she is discharged from the hospital. She sends you a postcard from Paris, and for a short time, you are elated. A couple of weeks later, your friends tell you the bad news, that she died in Buenos Aires. Dr. Harper Emery tells you that her family is suing Edenbrook and an investigation is being conducted into the cause of her death.

After days go by, you decide to make a stand and confess to giving her the medication, asking for an Ethics hearing. There, you state your case with the help of former patients and senior physicians you have won over. You also meet Mrs. Martinez's son, Luis, who thanks you for helping his mother. He admits to being angry in the beginning, but once he saw his mother's smile - a smile that he hadn't seen since he was a young boy - he knew that you gave her that, and he withdraws his lawsuit. You win your Ethics hearing with either a unanimous vote led by Dr. Banerji or a tied vote (4 out of 8), which is to your benefit.

Trivia

 * Her character model resembles Eleanor Harlenay from Veil of Secrets but with white hair and without glasses.
 * In Chapter 2, she tells you that Dr. Taylor has her walk 12 times around the floor (of the room where she is assigned) to get her exercise.
 * She regularly watches Jeopardy.
 * She once pranked Dr. Mirani, by switching his sugar with salt. Dr. Delarosa said it added a unique flavoring to her coffee.
 * In 1952, she and her husband were trapped in a museum all night. They got married because she told him "carry me" and he understood "marry me".
 * Dr. Harper Emery was on her neuro residency when Mrs. Martinez first arrived to the hospital.
 * Mrs. Martinez passed away in her sleep, in a hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
 * The name Teresa is of Greek origin and means "harvester". It's a common version of Theresa.
 * She shares the same surname as Mandy Martinez from Untameable, Book 1.
 * The surname Martinez is of Spanish origin and means "child of Martin". The name Martin is of Latin origin and means: Warrior, of Mars, warlike.