Chapter 7 — The Hospital Siege
Chapter 7 — The Hospital Siege
The first gunshot shattered the silence.
Doctors dove beneath desks.
Patients screamed.
Nurses ran in every direction.
Tony looked through the narrow window in Elena's room.
"Three shooters."
Another burst of automatic gunfire ripped through the hallway.
"They're inside."
Vincent drew his pistol.
"Lock the door."
One bodyguard pushed a hospital bed against the entrance.
Another switched off the room lights.
Outside, footsteps pounded across the polished floor.
Someone shouted.
"Room 417!"
Elena's room.
Vincent looked at Tony.
"They came for her."
"No."
Tony listened carefully.
"They came for something she has."
A deafening blast shook the hallway.
The attackers had brought a shotgun.
The first lock exploded.
Splinters flew across the room.
Sophie screamed.
Vincent pulled her behind the hospital bed.
"Stay down."
The second blast ripped through the upper half of the door.
Masked men flooded into the corridor.
One carried an assault rifle.
Another held a duffel bag filled with explosives.
The lead attacker shouted,
"Bring us the widow!"
Before he could finish—
Vincent stepped into the doorway.
One precise shot.
The leader collapsed instantly.
Chaos erupted.
Bullets tore through the walls.
Medical equipment exploded into showers of sparks.
Tony rolled across the floor, returning fire.
One attacker fell.
Another retreated behind the nurses' station.
Hospital alarms blared throughout the building.
Outside, terrified civilians fled toward the exits.
Inside the room, Elena suddenly remembered something.
"The key..."
Vincent glanced back.
"What key?"
"The silver key..."
Her face turned pale.
"My husband hid something."
Tony fired twice through the doorway.
"We don't have time!"
Elena struggled to breathe.
"He told me..."
She gasped.
"...if anyone ever comes looking for it..."
Another explosion rocked the hallway.
The ceiling partially collapsed.
Dust filled the room.
Vincent grabbed Elena before debris struck her bed.
She clutched his sleeve with surprising strength.
"The key opens a safety deposit box..."
She whispered the final words into his ear.
"The truth about Maria... is inside."
Vincent froze.
For one fatal second, he stopped shooting.
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From the smoke-filled corridor, a laser sight settled squarely on his chest.
A sniper had finally found him.
