Chapter 10 - The Second Attack
Khloe woke to silence.
The contraction monitor beside her had stopped beeping.
At first she assumed the nurses had disconnected it.
Then she noticed the IV pump.
The display was dark.
“Marcus?”
No answer.
She pressed the call button.
Nothing happened.
The hallway outside her room was strangely empty.
Khloe's pulse quickened.
She reached for her phone.
No signal.
Then the door opened.
A nurse entered.
Khloe had never seen her before.
“Where's Dr. Chen?”
“Emergency downstairs.”
The nurse approached the IV line.
“I need to change your medication.”
Khloe looked at the badge.
MELISSA GRANT.
Something about the photograph seemed wrong.
The woman in front of her had darker hair than the badge picture.
Khloe placed one hand over her stomach.
“What medication?”
“Magnesium sulfate.”
“I already have magnesium.”
“This is another dose.”
Khloe's fear sharpened into clarity.
“No.”
The nurse stopped.
“Excuse me?”
“I said no.”
The woman's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Khloe saw it.
The same cold impatience she had seen in Isabella.
The nurse reached for the IV.
Khloe ripped the line from her arm.
Blood dotted the sheet.
“What are you doing?”
“Security!”
The woman lunged.
Khloe grabbed the metal water pitcher from the bedside table and swung.
It struck the intruder's shoulder.
The woman cursed.
Then the door burst open.
Damian entered with two security officers.
The fake nurse ran toward the bathroom.
Security tackled her before she reached it.
A syringe rolled across the floor.
Damian looked at it.
“What is that?”
The woman said nothing.
Hospital pharmacy staff later identified the substance.
A concentrated medication capable of causing catastrophic maternal blood pressure changes if injected rapidly.
Khloe stared at the syringe from across the room.
This had not been intimidation.
Someone had tried to kill her.
Marcus arrived nine minutes later.
He ran directly to Khloe.
This time she let him hold her.
“I thought—”
His voice broke.
Khloe pressed her forehead against his chest.
“So did I.”
Damian entered.
“The woman isn't a nurse.”
Marcus looked toward him.
“Who is she?”
“Her real name is Natalie Cross.”
Julian stepped into the doorway behind Marcus.
Khloe stiffened.
Marcus held up a hand.
“He's helping us now.”
Damian continued.
“Natalie worked as a private nurse five years ago.”
“For whom?”
Damian placed an old employment file on the table.
“Warren Sloan's wife.”
Marcus frowned.
“I didn't know Warren was married.”
“He isn't anymore.”
“What happened?”
“She died.”
Damian turned the page.
“Complications from an accidental medication overdose.”
Nobody spoke.
Julian stared at the report.
“You think Natalie killed her?”
“I think we need to stop believing anything connected to Warren happened accidentally.”
Khloe looked toward her uncle.
“Did Natalie talk?”
“No.”
“But she had this.”
Damian placed a tiny encrypted transmitter on the table.
The device was receiving instructions from somewhere inside the hospital.
Security traced the signal.
It originated three floors below.
From the administrative wing.
Specifically from Damian Hale's private office.
Damian stared at the report.
“That office requires biometric access.”
Marcus looked at him.
“Who can open it?”
Damian's answer made Khloe's stomach tighten.
“Three people.”
“Me.”
“My chief operating officer.”
“And my sister.”
Khloe went still.
May you like
Her mother.
Lillian Hale.
