Chapter 4 - THE MAN AT THE HOSPITAL
Lily knew something was wrong the moment the maintenance worker entered Ethan’s room.
He never looked at the ceiling vent he claimed he had come to inspect.
He looked at Ethan.
Then at the monitor.
Then at the IV line.
Lily stood.
“What are you doing?”
“Routine check.”
“At four in the morning?”
The man reached inside his jacket.
Lily hit the emergency button.
He moved toward the crib.
She stepped between them.
“Get away from him.”
The man grabbed her wrist.
Lily screamed.
Two guards rushed inside.
The stranger shoved Lily into the wall and escaped through the service corridor.
By the time Victor arrived, the entire hospital floor had been locked down.
He found Lily sitting beside Ethan.
A nurse was wrapping her wrist.
Victor walked directly toward her.
“Are you hurt?”
“I’m okay.”
“You’re not okay.”
“It’s just my wrist.”
Victor looked at the bruising.
Then he looked at Ethan.
“What did he want?”
“I don’t know.”
Lily swallowed.
“But he wasn’t here to fix anything.”
Victor sat across from her.
“You saved Ethan again.”
Lily looked surprised.
“I did what anyone would do.”
“No.”
Victor’s answer came immediately.
“You did what everyone should do.”
“There’s a difference.”
Lily looked away.
Victor noticed the exhaustion in her face.
“When did you last sleep?”
She almost laughed.
“I don’t remember.”
“Sleep.”
“I’m not leaving Ethan.”
“I didn’t ask you to leave.”
Victor pulled a chair beside the crib.
“I’ll stay.”
Lily hesitated.
Then Ethan stirred.
His hand reached toward her.
She moved her chair closer instead.
Victor understood.
Neither spoke for several minutes.
Then Lily whispered.
“There’s something else.”
Victor looked at her.
“Serena asked me a strange question two weeks ago.”
“What question?”
“She asked whether Ethan had ever been tested for allergies.”
Victor frowned.
“Why?”
“I told her everything was in his medical file.”
“She asked where the file was kept.”
Victor’s expression changed.
“Did you show her?”
“No.”
“She already had access to the family records.”
Lily nodded slowly.
“But she didn’t know that I kept copies.”
“Where?”
“In my room.”
Victor called Cole.
“Search Lily’s room.”
Cole called back twelve minutes later.
The room had been destroyed.
Drawers emptied.
Mattress cut open.
Closet torn apart.
But one thing was missing.
The folder containing Ethan’s medical records.
Victor stared through the hospital window at the city lights.
The pieces were becoming uglier.
Someone wanted access to Ethan.
Someone wanted his medical information.
Someone had tried to reach him inside the hospital.
And Serena had known enough to be afraid of Lily.
Victor turned.
“Why didn’t you quit?”
Lily looked confused.
“When Serena started threatening you.”
“Why didn’t you leave?”
Lily looked at Ethan.
“Because he couldn’t.”
Victor had no answer.
Later that morning, the technician recovered another deleted message from Serena’s phone.
This one contained an address.
Victor recognized it immediately.
An abandoned warehouse on the South Side.
Cole looked at him.
“We should send a team.”
Victor nodded.
Then the technician enlarged the final line of the message.
BRING THE BLACKWOOD MEDICAL FILE.
CHILD’S BLOOD TYPE MUST BE CONFIRMED BEFORE PHASE TWO.
Victor stared at the screen.
Lily had been right.
May you like
This was bigger than Serena.
Much bigger.
