Chapter 5 - ROOM 417
Room 417 was inside Vale’s flagship surgical center.
Claire had been treated there.
Madison confirmed it through an old family email.
Her mother’s private recovery room had been 417.
The room was now used for medical records awaiting digitization.
Naomi met Madison at a side entrance before sunrise.
“You should not be here alone,” Naomi said.
“I’m not.”
Samantha waited in a car across the street with copies of Madison’s evidence and instructions to call police if Madison failed to check in.
Naomi used her physician badge to access the records floor.
Room 417 was locked.
Her old code no longer worked.
Madison tried the six-digit number Claire had used for family passwords.
The door opened.
Inside were shelves of archived paper charts and sealed evidence boxes.
“Why would Robert know about this?” Madison asked.
“After Claire’s death, he demanded that her medical material be preserved.”
“Derek said everything was destroyed after the review.”
“Derek lied.”
Naomi moved toward a locked refrigeration cabinet.
She removed a small metal key from beneath her identification badge.
Inside were sealed specimen containers.
One bore Claire’s patient number.
Naomi’s hands trembled.
“Your mother developed uncontrolled bleeding after the procedure. The medication label said it contained the standard drug we ordered.”
“But it didn’t?”
“I suspected the concentration was wrong.”
Naomi had sent a sample for independent analysis.
The preliminary result showed the vial had been diluted and contaminated.
Before the laboratory could complete its work, Derek ordered the test canceled.
The sample was supposed to be destroyed.
Naomi secretly kept one sealed vial.
“Why didn’t you go to the police?”
“The internal review claimed the chain of custody was unreliable. Derek’s attorneys threatened to accuse me of tampering.”
“You had the vial.”
“I had suspicion. He had the company, the board, and lawyers willing to destroy my career.”
Madison stared at her mother’s patient number.
“How many other patients were harmed?”
“At least seven had unexplained complications after Meridian products entered the network.”
“Did anyone die?”
Naomi looked down.
“Two others.”
The door slammed behind them.
Derek stood in the hallway.
Martin Cole was beside him.
“You never learned when to stop,” Derek said.
Naomi stepped in front of the refrigerator.
Madison reached for her phone.
Martin grabbed her wrist.
She struck him with her purse and ran toward the door.
Derek caught her arm.
“Give me the drive.”
“No.”
He pushed her against a glass-fronted cabinet.
It cracked behind her.
Naomi screamed for security.
Madison twisted free.
Derek lunged again.
The damaged glass broke.
A jagged section caught Madison along the lower abdomen.
Pain tore through her body.
She fell.
Blood spread across her blouse.
Derek stared at the wound.
For one horrified second, Madison thought he would help her.
Instead, he reached for her purse.
May you like
👉 Derek saw Madison bleeding on the floor and still chose the evidence over her life.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
