Chapter 12 - OPERATING THEATER FOUR
Sarah was transported to Evergreen under armed protection.
The bullet had missed her major arteries, but one lung was partially collapsed.
Nathan wanted to remain beside her.
Instead, he traveled to Pierce Medical Center with Elena and a bomb-disposal unit.
The foundation gala had been divided between Nathan’s estate and the hospital’s main atrium.
Victor had arranged a live broadcast linking both locations.
Nearly six hundred employees, donors, and board members were expected.
Evacuation began under the explanation of a gas leak.
Nathan entered the hospital through the surgical wing.
Operating Theater Four had been sealed since the electrical fire in 2019.
Victor had insisted the damage was too extensive to repair.
A metal wall now covered the entrance.
The bomb team cut through it.
Behind the barrier, the theater remained almost untouched.
The operating table stood beneath dust-covered lights.
Old monitors lined the walls.
Nathan remembered performing his first independent heart repair there.
Victor had watched from the gallery.
At the time, Nathan had mistaken Victor’s attention for pride.
A technician scanned the room.
“Possible wiring beneath the floor.”
The team removed panels.
Bundles of new cables ran beneath the old equipment.
They connected to explosive charges placed near structural supports and oxygen lines.
“How much damage?”
Elena asked.
The bomb technician studied the layout.
“If these detonate, the surgical tower could collapse.”
“How long?”
“No visible timer.”
Nathan looked toward the observation gallery.
A red indicator light blinked behind the glass.
“Remote trigger.”
Elena ordered signal jammers activated.
The light stopped blinking.
A second technician opened a storage cabinet.
Inside were boxes of trial records.
Patient names.
Medication schedules.
Consent forms with forged signatures.
Death reports altered to hide experimental complications.
Nathan recognized physicians who still worked at Pierce Medical Center.
Some had unknowingly participated.
Others had been paid.
Victor had built the respected hospital by burying patients beneath its success.
A television monitor turned on by itself.
Victor appeared from an unknown location.
“You always loved this room.”
Nathan stared at the screen.
“Where are you?”
“Near enough.”
“The building is evacuated.”
“Most of it.”
Victor smiled.
“The neonatal wing remains occupied.”
Nathan’s blood ran cold.
Ethan and Owen had been moved to Pierce Medical Center that morning because Victor had compromised Evergreen’s security.
Nora, Rosa, and Lily were with them.
Elena immediately contacted the wing.
No one answered.
Victor continued.
“Signal jammers are inconvenient.”
“But the detonators contain a wired backup.”
A timer appeared on the screen.
Thirty-one minutes.
“Where is the control?”
Nathan asked.
“Inside the neonatal intensive-care unit.”
Elena looked at him.
Victor had forced them to choose between the evidence and the children.
“If we evacuate the infants, he detonates.”
Victor said.
“If you remove the records, he detonates.”
“If law enforcement enters the neonatal wing, he detonates.”
“What do you want?”
“The ledger.”
“The charter.”
“The bracelet.”
“And Sarah’s signature.”
“Sarah is in surgery.”
“Then you should hope she survives quickly.”
The screen went black.
Nathan ran toward the neonatal wing.
Elena followed.
“You cannot enter.”
“He said law enforcement cannot.”
“That includes me.”
“Not me.”
“Nathan.”
“My badge identifies me as hospital staff.”
He removed his transmitter and weapon.
“You monitor from outside.”
The neonatal corridor appeared empty.
Nathan used his identification card.
The doors opened.
A man in surgical scrubs stood at the nurses’ station.
Marcus.
Nathan stopped.
“You escaped custody.”
“Reed helped.”
“Why?”
“Because Victor has my son.”
Nathan stared at him.
“You called all three children yours.”
“Lily is mine.”
Marcus looked toward the intensive-care rooms.
“The twins never were.”
“You still abused them.”
“I know.”
“Where is Victor?”
“Watching.”
Marcus pointed toward ceiling cameras.
“He forced me to come here.”
“Where are Lily and Rosa?”
“Room twelve.”
“Ethan and Owen?”
“With them.”
Nathan approached slowly.
“Show me the detonator.”
Marcus lifted his scrub shirt.
A device had been strapped around his chest.
Wires ran toward a trigger in his hand.
“If my grip changes, it sends the signal.”
“A dead-man switch.”
“Yes.”
“Victor expects you to die.”
Marcus laughed without humor.
“He has expected that for years.”
Nathan examined the vest from a distance.
“Why cooperate?”
“Because he has Lily.”
“You said she is in room twelve.”
“A recording is in room twelve.”
Nathan’s heart pounded.
“He moved her again?”
“Ten minutes ago.”
“Where?”
“I do not know.”
“Rosa?”
“Unconscious.”
“The twins?”
“Still there.”
Nathan looked through the window.
Rosa lay beside two bassinets.
She appeared to be breathing.
“Release the trigger.”
“The vest detonates.”
“Not if I disable the pressure circuit.”
“You are a heart surgeon.”
“Circuits and arteries both fail when the wrong connection is cut.”
Nathan moved closer.
“Do you trust me?”
Marcus’s face twisted.
“No.”
“Do you want Lily alive?”
“Yes.”
“Then stand still.”
Nathan examined the vest.
The wires were arranged to confuse anyone attempting removal.
One line connected to a heart-rate monitor attached to Marcus’s chest.
Victor had designed the device to detonate if Marcus’s pulse stopped.
Even killing him would not prevent the explosion.
Nathan located the pressure sensor beneath the trigger.
He inserted a thin surgical clamp.
“Do not move.”
Marcus’s breathing accelerated.
“Slower.”
Nathan said.
“If your hand shakes, we all die.”
“You think I do not know that?”
“I think fear has controlled every choice you made for seven years.”
Marcus stared at him.
“You do not know me.”
“I know you hurt people weaker than you because Victor made you feel weak.”
Marcus’s eyes darkened.
Nathan secured the sensor.
“Release one finger.”
Marcus did.
The trigger remained active.
“Another.”
Marcus slowly opened his hand.
Nathan locked the clamp.
The device did not detonate.
Elena’s bomb technician entered without a weapon.
He disabled the remaining circuits.
The timer on the operating-room screen stopped at eleven minutes.
Nathan rushed into room twelve.
Owen was crying.
Ethan’s monitors remained stable.
Rosa opened her eyes.
“They took Lily.”
“Who?”
“The nurse.”
“Miriam?”
Rosa nodded.
“She said Victor would kill Grace.”
Nathan called Miriam.
She answered while crying.
“I am sorry.”
“Where are you?”
“He made me bring Lily to the hospital roof.”
“Is Victor there?”
“No.”
“He left a helicopter.”
“Miriam, listen to me.”
“Your daughter is protected.”
“Elena has officers beside her.”
“You do not have to obey him.”
“He said he can reach anyone.”
“He cannot reach you if you help us end this.”
Wind roared through the phone.
Lily’s voice sounded in the background.
“Uncle Nathan.”
Nathan ran toward the stairwell.
“What does Victor want you to do?”
Miriam sobbed.
“Put her on the helicopter.”
The roof door appeared ahead.
“Has it arrived?”
“No.”
Nathan pushed through the door.
Snow struck his face.
Miriam stood near the helipad holding Lily.
A helicopter approached through the clouds.
Elena’s voice came through Nathan’s phone.
“The aircraft registration belongs to Victor Hale.”
Nathan moved toward Lily.
Miriam released the child.
“Take her.”
Lily ran.
Nathan caught her.
The helicopter descended.
Its side door opened.
Victor sat inside.
He raised a rifle.
Miriam stepped between the weapon and Nathan.
The gun fired.
Miriam fell.
Nathan pulled Lily behind a ventilation unit.
The helicopter lifted before officers could reach the roof.
Miriam lay bleeding in the snow.
Nathan pressed his hands against the wound.
She looked at Lily.
“I am sorry.”
Lily knelt beside her.
“You helped at the end.”
Miriam began crying.
Nathan heard Elena shouting through the stairwell.
Miriam grabbed his sleeve.
“The gala.”
“What about it?”
“Victor does not need the estate anymore.”
“He has another copy of the charter.”
“Where is he going?”
Miriam’s lips barely moved.
“The courthouse.”
Nathan looked at Elena.
Judge Evelyn Price had scheduled an emergency hearing concerning custody and control of Sarah’s trust.
Victor intended to use forged documents before the evidence could be presented.
May you like
Miriam whispered one last detail.
“The judge’s daughter is on the helicopter.”
