Chapter 10 - Shadows in the Hospital Ward
The sterile lights of Room 402 hummed softly as I walked back through the heavy oak door, the leather folder clutched tightly against my chest. The tension of the boardroom lingered in my shoulders, but the sight waiting for me inside the room instantly grounded my breathing.
Everett was sitting fully upright in the hospital bed, the pillows propped high behind his broad shoulders. The small scar on his forehead caught the amber glow of the bedside lamp. He had a glass of water in his hand, drinking slowly, his dark eyes sharp and entirely lucid as he watched the door swing shut.
"You handled them," Everett said, his voice deep and steady, carrying none of the breathless frailty from yesterday morning. He set the glass down on the tray table with a soft clink. "I could hear the shouting down the corridor through the intercom."
"Sterling tried to push through a forced liquidation using forged audits," I said, walking to the side of the bed and placing the leather folder across his lap. I dropped into the leather armchair, suddenly feeling the weight of the past twenty-four hours settle deep into my bones. "He thought the board would panic. He didn't expect me to quote the bylaws or have the federal registrar on standby."
Everett opened the folder, his fingers tracing the signatures on the proxy document and the forensic reports I had printed before leaving the tower. A faint, appreciative smile touched the corners of his mouth. "You didn't look like a vagrant when you walked into that room, Willa. You looked like an executive."
"I was wearing your clothes from the wardrobe trunk," I murmured, looking down at my hands. The plain gold wedding band still rested on my left ring finger, a heavy, unyielding reminder of the vows spoken over his unmoving hand. "And I had the law on my side. That changes things."
"The law only matters if someone has the courage to enforce it," Everett said softly, shifting his weight and reaching out to pull a chair closer to the bed for me. He caught my hand in his, his grip warm and firm. "What did Sterling say when you cornered him with the forensic dates?"
May you like
"He panicked. He tried to invoke security, but the marshals were already downstairs," I said, letting out a long, slow breath as I relaxed against the armchair. "He's finished at the tower, Everett. The board tabled the vote indefinitely pending a full federal audit of his accounts."
Everett nodded slowly, his thumb brushing over the gold band on my finger. The quiet intimacy of the room felt worlds away from the bright, hostile chapel where we had first met. We sat in silence for a long moment, the shared danger drawing us together into an unbreakable alliance.
