Chapter 5: The Inside Track
By dawn, the relentless rain had cleared, leaving behind a pale, washed-out morning light that cut horizontally across the forty-second-floor windows. Julian stirred for the first time, his eyelids flickering open as he let out a low groan, disoriented by the heavy painkillers and the sterile environment.
I was at his bedside instantly, shining a penlight into his pupils to check his neurological response. "Easy, Julian. You're safe. Just keep your breathing steady."
Julian blinked heavily, his gaze shifting past me to where Dominic stood silhouetted against the morning sun like a dark monument. A faint, strained smile touched Julian's lips. "Always... always dramatic entrances, big brother."
"Save the commentary for when your lung isn't held together by a plastic catheter," Dominic replied, though the profound relief in his voice was unmistakable beneath his gruff exterior. He stepped forward, placing a heavy hand on Julian's uninjured arm. "Who authorized the hit on the logistics transport?"
Julian's expression hardened, the pain in his eyes eclipsed by sudden, sharp anger. He turned his head toward me, giving me a long, searching look before speaking. "It wasn't a random hit. It was the board. Specifically, Chairman Vance. He found out I was auditing the contaminated supply manifests—the same ones your new nurse here got fired for flagging."
Everything in the room seemed to freeze. I stopped adjusting the IV drip, my hands hovering over the plastic tubing. The memory of the HR manager's smug face across the mahogany desk rushed back into focus. It wasn't just budget cuts. It was a cover-up. The tainted IV fluids I had refused to sign off on weren't an administrative error; they were part of a massive embezzlement scheme funneled through the hospital's primary supplier—a shell company controlled by none other than Chairman Vance and the Vale family's corporate rivals.
"They didn't just want me out of the hospital," I whispered, the realization dawning with chilling clarity. "They wanted anyone who touched those manifests erased before the state health inspection next week."
Dominic turned slowly from his brother, his dark eyes locking onto mine. The temperature in the room plummeted. The sleek, controlled businessman vanished in an instant, replaced by a cold, calculating predator whose family had just been directly targeted by institutional corruption.
"Get your coat, Maya," Dominic said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. "We're going back to the hospital."
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"Back there?" I stared at him, my heart pounding against my ribs. "They have security, administration, corporate lawyers—they'll have me arrested on sight for trespassing."
Dominic reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a heavy, platinum-engraved access card, placing it deliberately on the medical tray beside my stethoscope. "Let them try. We're going to pull every digital record Vance tried to bury, and we're going to do it with their own security codes."
