Chapter 16 - TEN MINUTES
Emily lay open on the operating table while Conrad demanded her signature.
The cruelty of the timing was not accidental.
He knew she could not stand.
He knew anesthesia trapped her body beneath the surgical drape.
He knew blood loss, fear, and medication would make any later statement easier to challenge.
Dr. Shaw continued working.
“You are not responding,” she said.
Emily stared at the ceiling.
“That is my daughter.”
“And I am keeping you alive for her.”
Raymond pressed the intercom.
“Conrad, listen to me.”
“I have listened to you for thirty years.”
“You cannot leave the hospital.”
“I already have a route.”
“Then take me instead.”
Conrad laughed.
“You were never the inheritance.”
Emily looked at Raymond.
“Stop negotiating.”
She spoke toward the intercom.
“What do you want signed?”
“A temporary voting proxy.”
“You know the coercion clause prevents that.”
“The clause protects the child.”
“It does not protect the hospital from emergency receivership.”
“What did you do?”
“I placed evidence of financial misconduct under your credentials.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Another manufactured record.
Another attempt to make paper stronger than truth.
“If I release it, federal regulators freeze the network.”
“You would destroy the hospital you want to own.”
“I would destroy it before allowing a Saint Claire to keep it.”
The intercom clicked.
A printer inside the operating room activated.
Pages emerged.
A voting proxy.
A custody acknowledgment.
A statement claiming Emily had voluntarily consumed prescription sedatives.
A final page transferred temporary care of Claire Rose Saint Claire to Preston Whitmore.
Emily stared at his name.
“Preston is not with you.”
“He will be.”
“Is he alive?”
“For the moment.”
Raymond looked toward the ceiling camera.
“Where is Claire?”
Conrad answered.
“Inside an infant transport incubator.”
“She is receiving oxygen.”
“If security approaches, Keller disconnects it.”
Dr. Shaw’s eyes flashed with fury.
“She may not survive without respiratory support.”
“Then advise Emily to sign.”
A digital clock appeared on the operating-room monitor.
Nine minutes remained.
Detective Ruiz spoke through Raymond’s earpiece.
Her team had located the neonatal room.
One officer had been shot in the shoulder.
A nurse had been restrained.
Conrad and Keller had taken Claire through a service hatch connecting to the surgical ventilation level.
They were believed to be moving toward the ambulance garage.
The hospital’s floor plans showed three possible routes.
Security blocked two.
The third passed directly beneath the operating room.
Emily looked at Raymond.
“Can they hear us if the intercom is off?”
He muted it.
“Probably not.”
“Where is Preston?”
“Unknown.”
“Conrad said he is alive.”
“That may be another lie.”
Emily looked at the printed documents.
“He needs my signature to survive legal scrutiny.”
“Yes.”
“Then he needs the original papers.”
Raymond understood.
“You want to delay him.”
“I want him to come closer.”
Dr. Shaw spoke firmly.
“You are losing blood.”
“How long until you finish?”
“Several minutes.”
“Can I sign?”
“Physically, yes.”
“Legally, anything signed under these conditions is worthless,” Raymond said.
“Conrad knows that.”
“He wants a video showing me signing.”
Emily unmuted the intercom.
“I will sign.”
Raymond stared at her.
Conrad answered immediately.
“Wise.”
“I want to see Claire.”
“A video feed will appear.”
The operating-room monitor changed.
Claire lay inside a portable incubator.
A small oxygen tube remained beneath her nose.
Keller pushed the unit through a concrete corridor.
Conrad walked beside him holding a pistol.
A third person followed with a camera.
Preston.
His face was bruised.
A bandage covered his side.
His hands were bound in front of him.
Emily’s breath caught.
Preston looked directly into the camera.
Conrad pressed the weapon against his back.
“You wanted to know whether your husband lived.”
“Release him.”
“He will stand witness to your voluntary signature.”
Preston shook his head.
“Don’t sign.”
Conrad struck him across the face.
Claire moved inside the incubator.
Emily felt rage replace fear.
“Bring the papers to me.”
“They are already there.”
“I need someone to hold them.”
Raymond stepped forward.
“I will.”
“No.”
Conrad’s voice hardened.
“Raymond leaves the room.”
“He is injured.”
“He leaves.”
Detective Ruiz whispered through the earpiece that officers were entering the ventilation level.
Emily needed Conrad’s attention fixed on the screen.
“Raymond,” she said.
“Go.”
He understood.
He moved toward the side door as though leaving.
Instead, he entered the sterile supply chamber connecting to the next operating room.
From there, he could reach the corridor.
Emily lifted the pen.
Her fingers trembled.
“Which page first?”
“The proxy.”
“Read the authority section.”
“You can read it yourself.”
“My vision is blurred.”
Conrad began reading.
Emily interrupted repeatedly.
“What does subsection three mean?”
“You know what it means.”
“I’m under anesthesia.”
“You said you were competent.”
“I said I would sign.”
The clock reached five minutes.
Detective Ruiz’s team moved closer.
Conrad became impatient.
“Sign the final page.”
“Show me Claire’s monitor.”
The camera shifted.
Her oxygen saturation appeared on the incubator screen.
Ninety-four percent.
Her heart rate remained strong.
Emily memorized the numbers.
“Bring Preston closer.”
“Why?”
“He is named as temporary guardian.”
“I want him to confirm.”
Conrad shoved Preston toward the camera.
“Tell her.”
Preston stared into the lens.
“Emily, I have no right to our daughter.”
Conrad pressed the gun harder against him.
“Tell her to sign.”
Preston continued.
“I will confess in court.”
“I will surrender every claim.”
“I will never approach Claire unless Emily permits it.”
Conrad struck him again.
Preston fell against the incubator.
An alarm sounded.
Keller grabbed the handle.
Claire’s oxygen level dropped.
Emily’s control broke.
“Do not touch her.”
Conrad smiled.
“Sign.”
Detective Ruiz whispered that her team had reached the lower junction.
Emily placed the pen against the paper.
The video camera focused on her hand.
Then the operating-room lights went out.
The screen turned black.
Raymond had reached the surgical power-control panel.
Emergency lighting remained active, but the live video feed failed.
Conrad shouted through the intercom.
“Restore it.”
The lights returned after twelve seconds.
Emily had signed the page.
At least, that was what the camera showed.
She held it toward the lens.
Conrad exhaled.
“Place it in the pneumatic tube.”
The hospital’s secure tube system connected surgical rooms to laboratories.
Emily inserted the document.
It disappeared into the wall.
What Conrad did not know was that Raymond had switched the destination.
The page traveled not to the ambulance level, but to Detective Ruiz’s command station.
Emily had not signed her own name.
She had written five words.
THIRD CORRIDOR.
OXYGEN LEVEL NINETY-FOUR.
Detective Ruiz redirected her team.
Officers entered the third corridor from both ends.
Gunfire erupted through the video feed.
Keller abandoned the incubator and ran.
Conrad grabbed Preston.
Preston drove his shoulder backward into his father.
The gun fired.
The camera fell.
The image spun across the concrete floor.
Emily saw legs.
Smoke.
The incubator rolling toward an open service ramp.
No one was holding it.
The wheels crossed the edge.
The incubator began tipping.
Preston lunged.
His bound hands caught the metal frame.
The weight pulled him to his knees.
The bandage at his side turned red.
Claire’s oxygen alarm screamed.
Conrad raised the gun.
May you like
A shot sounded.
The screen went black again.
