Chapter 5 - THE TARNISHED EMERALD
The sterile smell of the hospital corridor hit Graham like a physical blow as he sprinted through the automatic doors of Mercy General.
Evelyn was right beside him, her face pale and terrified, clutching the boys’ hands so tightly their knuckles were white.
“Pediatric Cardiology, fourth floor,” Evelyn gasped, pulling them toward the elevators.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Graham asked, his voice tight with panic. “A heart surgery? Evelyn, why didn’t you reach out?”
“I thought you hated us!” she cried, punching the elevator button repeatedly. “I thought you wanted us erased! I’ve been working three jobs to pay for the insurance premiums. He has a ventricular septal defect. A hole in his heart.”
Graham looked down at little Leo. The boy was looking up at the bright hospital lights, oblivious to the terror radiating from his parents.
A hole in his heart.
Graham felt a violent surge of protectiveness. He had millions of dollars. He had the best doctors in the world on speed dial. And his son had been suffering because of a lie.
The elevator dinged. They rushed onto the fourth floor.
“Nurse,” Evelyn ran up to the central desk. “I need to check on Leo Carter’s surgical schedule for next Tuesday. Please.”
The nurse looked up, recognizing Evelyn. “Oh, Miss Carter. I’m sorry, there’s been a change. His surgery was canceled an hour ago.”
Evelyn stopped breathing. “Canceled? Why?”
“The billing department received a notification that your insurance was retroactively terminated,” the nurse said sympathetically. “And a man claiming to be the family’s legal representative came by to collect Leo’s medical file. He said you were transferring his care out of state.”
Graham slammed his hand on the high counter. “What was his name?”
The nurse jumped. “I… I don’t know. He had a badge. Gray hair. Expensive suit.”
Richard Vance.
Eleanor hadn’t just paid Richard to go away. Richard had kept tabs on Evelyn. He knew about the boys. He knew about the surgery. And he had stolen the medical files from the hospital right after emptying Eleanor’s safe.
He was holding Leo’s life hostage.
“Where did he go?” Graham demanded.
Before the nurse could answer, a man stepped out of the shadow of the nearby waiting room.
He was older now, his hair completely silver, but his eyes were just as calculating as they had been five years ago in the Pierce Global boardroom.
Richard Vance.
“Looking for me, Graham?” Richard asked smoothly. He was holding a thick manila folder. Leo’s medical file.
Graham lunged.
He crossed the waiting room in two massive strides and grabbed Richard by the throat, slamming him against the wall. The framed artwork rattled against the plaster.
“Graham, stop!” Evelyn screamed, covering the boys’ eyes.
Nurses shouted, reaching for security phones.
“Give it to me,” Graham snarled, his forearm pressing against Richard’s windpipe. “If you ever come near my family again, I will kill you with my bare hands.”
Richard choked out a laugh, entirely unfazed. “Kill me, and your son doesn’t get the transplant, Graham.”
Graham froze. His grip loosened just enough for Richard to breathe.
“Transplant?” Graham whispered.
Richard straightened his tie, smiling a sick, triumphant smile. “Oh, Mommy didn’t tell you the whole truth, did she?”
Richard looked over at Evelyn.
Evelyn was shaking her head, tears streaming down her face. “No. No, it’s just a defect. It’s a routine surgery.”
“It was routine,” Richard corrected, holding up the file. “But I just had a nice chat with the Chief of Cardiology. Your son’s condition deteriorated last week. The patch won’t hold. He needs a full valve transplant. It requires a highly specialized pediatric donor network. A network that requires a two-million-dollar private donation to bump him to the top of the list in time.”
Graham looked at Evelyn. The devastation on her face confirmed she hadn't known this yet. Richard had stolen the information before the doctors could even call her.
“You sick bastard,” Graham breathed. “You’re using a dying child for money.”
“I’m a businessman,” Richard said coldly. “Your mother owes me five million dollars for keeping my mouth shut about the pension fund. She hasn’t paid up. So, I took her safe files as collateral. And when I found out about the boy… I realized I had much better leverage.”
Richard reached into his pocket and pulled out a small velvet pouch.
He tossed it to Graham.
Graham caught it. He opened the strings.
Inside was a tarnished emerald ring.
Graham’s breath caught in his throat. It was his grandmother’s ring. The ring he had bought out of the family vault five years ago, intending to propose to Evelyn the night she disappeared.
“Eleanor gave that to me as a down payment,” Richard sneered. “She stole it from your sock drawer the day you left for Chicago. She really did think of everything.”
Graham stared at the ring. The physical proof of the future that was stolen from them.
May you like
“What do you want, Richard?” Graham asked, his voice dead and cold.
“I want five million dollars transferred to my offshore account by midnight tonight,” Richard said. “Or I burn this medical file, I call my contacts at the insurance board, and I make sure your son is blacklisted from every transplant registry in North America.”
