Chapter 2
Cross moved first.
He grabbed Elena’s wrist, but she twisted free and struck the emergency call button with her elbow. The alarm erupted through the trauma department.
Dr. Lane ran back into the room.
“What did you do?”
“He has a pulse,” Elena said. “The monitor cable was loose. There’s pressure around his heart.”
Dr. Lane checked Adrian’s neck, then placed an ultrasound probe against his chest. His expression changed when the screen revealed faint cardiac movement trapped beneath accumulating blood.
“Get the operating room ready. Now.”
Cross stepped toward the table.
“I’ll manage the central line.”
“No,” Elena said.
Both physicians stared at her.
Cross’s right hand held a black syringe without a pharmacy label.
“What is that?” she asked.
“A clotting agent.”
“It wasn’t in the crash cart.”
Cross’s voice sharpened. “You have been a nurse for six months.”
“And that syringe has no label.”
Dr. Lane looked from Elena to Cross. “Put it down.”
For one dangerous second, Cross did not move. Then he placed the syringe on a steel tray.
“Your rookie just performed an unauthorized procedure on a patient already pronounced dead.”
“And found cardiac movement,” Dr. Lane replied. “We can discuss her license after surgery.”
Adrian was rushed upstairs. Surgeons opened his chest, relieved the pressure around his heart and repaired the damage caused by the sternum wound. The abdominal injury required additional surgery, while the shattered collarbone could wait.
Elena remained outside the operating room in blood-stiffened scrubs. Her hands would not stop trembling.
Hospital security locked down the emergency department. Police arrived and collected statements from terrified patients and employees. The panic button’s broken casing still carried the impression of Vinnie’s fist.
At 5:41 a.m., Dr. Lane emerged.
“He has a heartbeat. He is not stable, but he is alive.”
Elena lowered her face into her hands.
Dr. Lane sat beside her.
“I checked for a pulse.”
“I know.”
“I felt nothing.”
“The cable was loose.”
He looked toward the operating-room doors. “Cables get pulled during resuscitations.”
“Cross was standing beside it.”
“That is an accusation, Elena.”
“He also had an unmarked syringe.”
Dr. Lane’s exhaustion returned. “Preserve it. Do not touch anything else.”
Elena placed the syringe and disconnected cable inside separate evidence bags with the charge nurse as witness. That decision became the second choice that changed the night.
Adrian was transferred to a secured surgical ICU room under an alias. Police officers guarded the public entrance, while hospital security controlled staff access. His men remained outside the property after being warned they would be arrested if they returned armed.
Shortly after sunrise, Cross appeared beside Adrian’s ICU bed carrying a transport form.
“He needs an immediate CT scan.”
Elena checked the electronic schedule.
“There’s no scan ordered.”
“I’m ordering it now.”
“He’s too unstable to move without the attending surgeon.”
Cross leaned closer.
“You already exceeded your authority once tonight.”
Elena saw the outline of another syringe inside his scrub pocket.
She stepped between him and Adrian’s central line.
“I’m calling Dr. Lane.”
Cross smiled again, but this time there was no calm in it.
“You have no idea who you saved.”
“Right now, he’s my patient.”
Cross left before Dr. Lane arrived.
The transport form remained on the counter. Elena photographed it and sealed the original with the earlier evidence. The ordering field contained Cross’s credentials, but the destination listed an imaging suite closed for renovation.
Hospital security reviewed the corridor footage. Cross had entered Adrian’s unit using another physician’s temporary access code.
By noon, the administration removed him from patient care pending review.
Cross did not answer his phone.
Elena finally changed out of her bloody uniform. When she opened her locker, she found a folded surgical mask inside.
May you like
A message had been written across it in black ink.
You should have believed the machine.
