Chapter 7 - The Second Attempt
Cara switched off the room lights.
Vincent moved Sofia behind the nurses’ station.
Two loyal guards took positions beside the corridor.
The maintenance door opened slowly.
A hospital transport worker pushed an empty wheelchair inside.
He wore a mask and cap.
Cara recognized his shoes.
Dr. Hale had worn the same polished brown shoes in the emergency room.
“Hale,” she said.
The man stopped.
One guard pulled away the mask.
It was the doctor.
He raised both hands.
“I came to correct a medical mistake.”
“With a wheelchair?” Vincent asked.
Hale looked toward Dominic’s room.
“He needs surgery.”
“At another hospital?” Cara said.
Hale’s face remained controlled.
“This facility is no longer secure.”
“You’re the reason it isn’t.”
Hale denied everything.
Cara showed him the photograph of the medication record.
His confidence slipped.
“That log is incomplete.”
“The vial was removed under your code.”
“My credentials were stolen.”
“Then why was the death certificate transmitted before you finished examining him?”
Hale turned toward Vincent.
“Your client is dying. If you delay treatment because of a nurse’s imagination, his death will be on you.”
Dominic’s monitor alarmed.
His pressure began dropping again.
Cara rushed inside.
The chest-drain tubing had stopped moving.
She found a clamp hidden beneath the blanket.
Someone had closed it during the transfer.
Only three people had touched the bed.
Cara.
The transport technician.
And Dr. Hale, who briefly held the rail in the corridor.
Cara opened the clamp.
Dominic’s breathing improved.
Hale moved toward the bed.
A guard blocked him.
Vincent’s voice became quiet.
“You just tried to kill him in front of witnesses.”
Hale’s mask of authority finally cracked.
“You have no idea what keeping that man alive will do to this city.”
“Then explain it.”
Hale looked at Cara.
“You think one heartbeat makes you a hero? Men will die because you heard it.”
Cara stood between him and the bed.
“Then they’ll die because of the men who choose violence. Not because I treated my patient.”
Security officers arrived and detained Hale.
Before they removed him, he looked at hospital administrator Merrick.
Merrick immediately turned away.
Cara noticed.
So did Vincent.
Then Sofia’s phone rang.
Lorenzo was calling.
She answered on speaker.
His voice sounded gentle.
“I heard Uncle Dominic passed away.”
Sofia looked at her father’s moving chest.
“Who told you that?”
A pause followed.
May you like
Long enough to expose him.
👉 Lorenzo had just revealed knowledge of a death announcement that had never been released to the public.
