Chapter 4: The Signature That Wasn’t Mine
“That is not my signature,” I said.
Celia tapped the page.
“It was witnessed and notarized.”
“By whom?”
“Mr.
Davis can answer that.”
I turned on Martin.
“Did you forge my name?”
He stood so quickly that the chair tipped over.
“I was desperate.”
Lily flinched.
Dr.
Shah pointed toward the wall.
“Sit down, or security will remove you.”
Martin lowered his voice.
“Helen, if you challenge them, they’ll ruin us.”
“You already ruined us.”
Celia closed the folder.
“Mrs.
Davis, Meridian has no interest in your marriage.
We are here for the device.”
“The device is inside my daughter.”
“It belongs to Meridian.”
Lily gripped my wrist.
“I don’t belong to anyone.”
“No,” I said.
“You don’t.”
Celia’s expression softened for half a second.
“The order gives us temporary authority.”
Dr.
Shah took the document.
“Not inside my hospital.
My legal department will verify it.”
Martin’s phone rang in my hand again.
Celia looked at the screen.
“You should answer,” she said.
I put it on speaker.
A calm male voice filled the room.
“Martin, you have disappointed me.”
Martin swallowed.
“Victor, I can fix this.”
“No,” Victor Hale replied.
“Your wife is making that difficult.”
I moved closer to the phone.
“You placed something inside my child.”
“Your husband authorized a medical procedure.”
“He forged my signature.”
“That sounds like a marital dispute.”
Lily lifted her chin.
“I remember your voice.”
Silence followed.
Then Victor said, “You were always an observant little girl.”
Dr.
Shah reached for the phone, but Martin grabbed it first.
“I’ll bring you the chip,” he said.
“Clear the debt and leave us alone.”
Lily recoiled.
“You’re bargaining with him again!”
“I’m trying to save you!”
“You’re trying to save yourself.”
Celia’s eyes dropped to the floor.
Victor’s voice sharpened.
“The device contains property worth far more than Martin understands.
Remove it improperly, and Lily may suffer permanent damage.”
Dr.
Shah looked at the scanner.
“Is that a threat or medical information?”
“It is professional advice.”
The lights went out.
Lily cried my name, and I caught her hand in the darkness.
Emergency lights blinked red above the door.
“Lock the ward,” Dr.
Shah ordered.
The security officer reached for his radio.
“Communications are down.”
A crash came from the corridor.
Someone shouted that there was smoke near the electrical room.
Celia backed away.
“This was not part of the order.”
“You knew they were coming,” I said.
“I knew there would be a transfer.
Not this.”
Two men in paramedic uniforms appeared with a stretcher.
“We have instructions to evacuate Lily Davis,” one said.
Dr.
Shah blocked him.
“Show me your hospital identification.”
He reached inside his jacket.
Celia suddenly stepped between him and the bed.
“Victor said no force.”
The man smiled.
“Victor changed his mind.”
Martin seized my shoulders and shoved me aside.
The second man lifted Lily onto the stretcher while she screamed.
I grabbed the metal rail.
As they pushed toward the service elevator, Lily reached beneath the mattress and pressed something into my hand.
It was a small brass key.
May you like
“The woman who helped me,” she gasped.
“She said this would open the room where they keep the truth.”
