Chapter 6 - The Doctor Who Held My Wife's Life in His HandsFor several seconds, I couldn't believe what Mercer had told me.
Dr. Samuel Higgins.
The man who'd explained Rosalie's injuries.
The physician who'd reassured me when she squeezed my hand.
The doctor who'd identified the unexplained anticoagulant in her blood.
“Tell me exactly what you found,” I said.
Mercer opened the secured case notes on his phone.
“A hospital access audit shows Higgins opened Rosalie's medical chart several times from a workstation outside his assigned clinical area.”
“He's her doctor.”
“Correct. Access alone doesn't establish misconduct.”
“Then why are we talking about him?”
“Because one access occurred immediately before a private security employee received information about her medical condition.”
I felt my jaw tighten.
“Are you saying Higgins gave them her records?”
“We're investigating that possibility.”
“Has anyone questioned him?”
“Not yet. We're preserving the access logs and determining whether another person used his credentials.”
I thought of Higgins standing beside Rosalie's bed.
His quiet voice.
His careful explanations.
Had I trusted the wrong man?
I turned toward the ICU.
“I'm getting her another doctor.”
Mercer stepped beside me.
“Request an independent clinical review through the hospital. Don't confront Higgins with allegations we haven't established.”
I knew he was right.
But this was no longer an abstract investigation.
My wife was unconscious.
Someone had tried to kill her.
And now there was a possibility that the people caring for her were being watched.
I requested a meeting with the hospital's chief medical officer.
Twenty minutes later, Dr. Evelyn Brooks, a fifty-eight-year-old critical care specialist, met us in a conference room.
She listened without interruption while Mercer explained the concern.
“We need to separate the criminal investigation from the patient's medical care,” she said.
“Agreed,” Mercer replied.
“I can arrange an independent review of her treatment and restrict unnecessary chart access. But I won't remove a physician based solely on an unexplained access log.”
I appreciated her caution.
A hospital could not function if every suspicion became a conviction.
“Doctor,” I said, “I'm asking you to keep my wife alive. That's all.”
Brooks looked at me.
“And that's exactly what my team intends to do.”
She assigned another attending physician to review Rosalie's case and ordered an internal privacy investigation.
Meanwhile, Mercer and I went downstairs to meet Hannah.
She sat in an interview room with a federal agent named Rebecca Alvarez.
Hannah's hands were wrapped around a bottle of water.
She looked smaller than she had in the corridor.
When I entered, she stood.
“Alexander, I know you don't have any reason to trust me.”
“Then tell the truth.”
She nodded.
Alvarez opened her notebook.
“Hannah, you said your mother held a private meeting at the Miller estate last Thursday.”
“Yes.”
“Who attended?”
“Mom, Amanda, Charlotte, Jessica, Natalie, Peter Voss, and Dr. Higgins.”
My breath caught.
“Higgins was there?”
Hannah nodded.
“He's been a family friend for years.”
I remembered Rosalie once mentioning that her mother had donated millions to Fairview Regional Hospital.
Higgins had been a guest at several family charity dinners.
“Why was he at the meeting?” Alvarez asked.
Hannah stared at the table.
“Mom said he was helping with a medical emergency involving Rosalie.”
“What emergency?”
“She said Rosalie was unstable. That she might hurt herself or someone else.”
I felt anger rise in my chest.
Rosalie had never been unstable.
She was frightened, yes.
But she had never stopped thinking clearly.
Hannah continued.
“Charlotte said they could arrange an evaluation and have Rosalie admitted somewhere private.”
“Against her wishes?” Alvarez asked.
“I don't know.”
“Did Rosalie agree?”
“No.”
Hannah looked at me.
“She told Mom she would rather disappear than let them lock her away.”
My throat tightened.
That sounded like my wife.
“Then what happened?” Alvarez asked.
“Peter said the situation needed to be handled before the weekend.”
“Did he explain how?”
Hannah shook her head.
“I left the room.”
“Why?”
“Because I was scared.”
She began crying again.
“I knew something was wrong. I just kept telling myself Mom wouldn't hurt Rosalie.”
I wanted to ask why she'd remained silent after the attack.
But looking at her, I saw a young woman who had spent her entire life afraid of the same mother.
Fear didn't excuse silence.
It did explain why silence could last so long.
“Why are you telling us now?” I asked.
Hannah looked up.
“Because after Rosalie was taken to the hospital, Mom said something.”
“What?”
“She told Amanda that the doctors were supposed to make sure Rosalie never became a problem again.”
The room went silent.
Alvarez wrote the statement carefully.
“Did you hear those exact words?”
Hannah nodded.
“Yes.”
Mercer leaned forward.
“Did anyone respond?”
“Amanda said it was already being handled.”
I stood abruptly.
The chair scraped against the floor.
“I'm going back upstairs.”
Mercer rose with me.
“We're securing the medical unit.”
I hurried toward the elevators.
Every second felt unbearably long.
When we reached the ICU, Dr. Brooks was already reviewing Rosalie's chart.
Two hospital security officers stood near the entrance.
“Captain,” she said, “your wife is stable.”
I exhaled.
Then I saw Higgins approaching from the far end of the hallway.
He stopped when he noticed Mercer.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Mercer stepped forward.
“Dr. Higgins, we'd like to ask you some questions.”
Higgins looked at me.
Then at Dr. Brooks.
“I was wondering when somebody would ask.”
My stomach tightened.
“What does that mean?” I demanded.
Higgins reached into his coat pocket.
He removed a small flash drive.
Then he looked directly at Mercer.
“I haven't been cooperating with Catherine Miller.”
He swallowed.
“I've been recording her.”
May you like
And before any of us could respond, he added:
“But if the person protecting her learns what I've done, Rosalie won't be the only patient in danger.”
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