Chapter 7 - Blood on the Fourth Floor
The heavy fire door to the fourth-floor obstetrics wing didn’t click shut; it was wedged open with a red plastic safety chock.
I slipped through the gap, my boots silent against the polished rubber flooring of the maternity ward.
The entire wing was dead quiet—an eerie, unnatural stillness that felt less like a functioning hospital and more like a ghost town.
The nursing station was completely empty, the computer screens glowing with blue screensaver logs, half-饮 empty styrofoam coffee cups sitting beside abandoned keyboards.
Malcolm had done his job well.
He had cleared the floor of administrative staff to prevent hostages or witnesses from getting caught in the crossfire.
As I hurried down the brightly lit corridor beneath the flickering fluorescent tubes, a muffled, agonizing scream echoed from behind the frosted glass double doors of Delivery Suite 3 at the far end of the hall.
Clara.
I broke into a dead sprint, the heavy leather ledger clutched tightly under my arm like a sacred text.
I reached Suite 3 and shoved the frosted glass door open without knocking.
Malcolm was standing by the monitoring equipment near the back wall, his pistol drawn and resting against his thigh, his eyes locked on the heavy double-paned observation window overlooking the hallway outside.
Dr. Hayes, a silver-haired obstetrician with tired eyes and a blood-stained surgical gown, stood beside the delivery table, her hands encased in sterile latex gloves.
On the table, Clara was curled on her side, her face slick with sweat, her knuckles white as she gripped the metal safety rails so hard her skin was translucent.
She turned her head as I burst into the room, her eyes wide with a mixture of terror and overwhelming relief.
“Ethan,” she sobbed, her voice cracking as another violent contraction wracked her small frame. “They’re... they’re coming. I can’t... I can’t hold them back any longer.”
“You don’t have to hold them back,” I said, rushing to her side and dropping to my knees beside the delivery table.
I grabbed her cold, trembling hand, pressing my palm against her damp forehead while Dr. Hayes moved with brisk, terrifying efficiency between the metal trays of surgical instruments.
“Mr. Mercer,” Dr. Hayes said without looking up from her charts, her voice tight and clipped. “You picked a hell of a time to visit the maternity ward. The security feeds in the lobby just went offline. That means Miller’s men have bypassed the main breakers.”
“How much time do we have?” I asked, placing the heavy leather ledger on the rolling tray beside her instruments.
“Minutes,” Dr. Hayes replied bluntly, her eyes locking onto mine with fierce, unyielding loyalty. “Twins are distressed, breech presentation on the second one. If we don’t deliver within the next ten minutes, we’re looking at severe oxygen deprivation or worse.”
Malcolm stepped away from the door, his face pale under the harsh surgical lights.
“Mr. Mercer. We’ve got company in the stairwell. Heavy boots. At least four men, armed with suppressed carbines.”
I stood up from Clara’s side, walking over to the heavy oak door of the delivery suite and locking the deadbolt from the inside.
I pulled Diane’s confession note and the Mercer Family Trust ledger from my coat, slamming both documents down onto the metal instrument tray directly in front of Dr. Hayes.
“If they breach this door,” I said, my voice dropping into that cold, absolute register of a man who had nothing left to lose, “you take those papers, you sign the emergency ward transfer under Article IX, and you get Clara and those babies out through the helipad elevator on the roof.”
“And you?” Malcolm asked, racking the slide of his pistol with a sharp, metallic snap.
“I’m going to have a family reunion with my nephew,” I said, pulling the second hidden pistol from my shoulder holster and checking the magazine.
May you like
Before Malcolm could argue, a heavy, deafening blow smashed against the outer wooden door of Delivery Suite 3.
The reinforced deadbolt groaned, splintering the frame as Caleb’s tactical team began hammering their way into the room.
