Chapter 2 - The Chief Doctor Who Became My Brother
For one terrible second, Nathan did not move.
His eyes traveled over the oxygen mask.
The bruising near my temple.
The dark marks on my arms.
The way I held my body unnaturally still because every breath hurt.
Then he looked at Brandon.
Something in my brother’s face disappeared.
Not professionalism.
Something softer.
Nathan crossed the room so quickly that Brandon barely had time to turn.
“She slipped in the shower,” Brandon repeated.
His calm voice broke halfway through the sentence.
Nathan seized the front of Brandon’s suit and drove him backward before he could finish.
The nurses gasped.
A police officer rushed through the doorway.
Nathan released Brandon only when the officer stepped between them.
Then he came to my bedside.
His eyes scanned every visible injury with clinical precision, but his hands trembled when he touched my shoulder.
“Claire?”
I tried to answer.
Only air moved beneath the mask.
“I’m here,” he said. “You’re safe.”
Safe.
The word felt impossible.
Brandon straightened his jacket.
“This is completely inappropriate. She had an accident, and he’s emotionally compromised.”
Nathan looked at him.
The room became very still.
I had seen my brother furious before.
At careless residents.
At hospital administrators who delayed treatment over insurance.
At the driver who killed our father.
But this was different.
His anger had become quiet.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
A nurse in navy scrubs moved closer to my bed. Another in purple stood several feet away, one hand near her mouth as she looked between Brandon and my injuries.
Nathan asked me simple questions.
Could I hear him?
Could I move my fingers?
Did I know where I was?
I blinked once for yes.
He looked at my right hand.
My fingers shifted weakly beneath the blanket.
Then I remembered Brandon’s pocket.
Before I lost consciousness, he had torn the small encrypted drive from my necklace chain. He thought it contained the only copy of my files.
I lifted my hand.
Pain tore across my ribs.
Nathan reached for me.
“What is it?”
I pointed toward Brandon’s suit.
Brandon saw the movement.
For the first time, genuine panic entered his face.
He stepped toward the bed.
The nurse blocked him with both arms.
“Stay back.”
I forced the words through the oxygen mask.
“He took my files.”
Brandon lunged.
Nathan shoved him away from the bed and into the wall.
“Touch her again and you’re done.”
The officer moved closer.
Brandon raised both hands.
“This is insane. She’s confused. She struck her head.”
There it was.
The next part of his practiced story.
If the accident failed, discredit the victim.
But Nathan knew me.
He knew how long I had been preparing.
And he knew exactly what I meant by files.
He turned toward the officer without looking away from Brandon.
“Call it in. Now.”
Brandon shook his head, silently begging the room to return to the version of reality he controlled.
Then his hand slipped toward the inside of his suit jacket.
May you like
The nurse in purple saw it.
Her face changed.
