Chapter 5: The Reckoning
We returned Sophie to her room before dawn. When Clara woke, I told her an emergency procedure had been necessary overnight due to sudden instability. I said Dr. Peterson performed it. She was too relieved to question anything.
Sophie’s recovery was miraculous. By Friday, she was sitting up, asking for ice cream.
But the fallout came fast.
Friday afternoon, Marcus Sterling called an emergency staff meeting.
I entered the conference room. Sterling stood at the head of the table, eyes sharp, cornered prey scenting the air. Two police officers stood beside him.
“We’ve identified the source of the financial discrepancies,” Sterling announced, locking eyes with me. “And the unauthorized access to the ORs.”
My heart stopped.
“Dr. Evans,” Sterling continued. “Care to explain why your credentials accessed OR 3 at 2:00 AM Wednesday?”
I stood, hands slick with sweat, ready to confess.
Then the back doors opened.
A man entered, pushing a mop bucket, dressed in gray.
“He didn’t do it,” the janitor said.
Silence.
Sterling blinked. “Elias? Get out.”
“My name is Arthur Vane,” the man said clearly. “I hacked the system. I performed the surgery.”
Gasps rippled. Older physicians rose from their chairs.
“Vane?” Peterson whispered. “It’s him.”
“I am a fugitive,” Vane said, holding out his wrists. “I stole from this hospital to save Sophie Miller. I falsified records. Dr. Evans tried to stop me.”
He looked at me. Clear eyes. Primum Non Nocere.
“Arrest me,” he said.
The cuffs snapped shut.
As they led him away, he paused beside my chair.
“Check her potassium,” he whispered. “And tell Clara… I’m sorry about her mother.”
