Chapter 6 - Code White
By the time Ethan reached St. Catherine, Hannah had been moved to the surgical floor.
A nurse blocked the corridor.
“Mr. Mercer, you cannot enter until you change into sterile clothing.”
“Who is operating?”
“Dr. Park.”
“Only Dr. Park?”
The nurse looked confused. “She has a complete surgical team.”
“Check every name.”
Detective Collins appeared from the nearby waiting area.
“We already did,” she said. “One nurse on the schedule used false credentials.”
Ethan felt the floor tilt.
“Where is she?”
“Missing.”
The woman had entered the hospital under the name Rebecca Sloan and worked three temporary shifts over the previous month. Her badge had been used to access the maternity ward twice that morning.
Security found an unused infant transport bassinet near a service elevator.
Inside was a blanket, a forged discharge packet, and a tracking device registered to a private airfield.
The baby was supposed to disappear before anyone realized she had been removed.
Ethan changed into surgical clothing and entered the operating room.
Hannah lay beneath bright lights, terrified but awake.
The anesthesiologist explained that Dr. Park would perform an emergency cesarean because Lily’s heart rate continued to decline.
Ethan sat near Hannah’s head and held her hand.
“You came back,” she whispered.
“I promised.”
“Did they take the company?”
“No.”
“What about your mother?”
“She’s losing control.”
Hannah gave a weak smile. “That might be more dangerous.”
The surgery began.
Ethan focused on Hannah’s eyes and tried not to look beyond the blue drape. Machines beeped steadily. Staff members moved with controlled urgency.
Then Dr. Park’s voice sharpened.
“More suction.”
The anesthesiologist checked the monitors.
Hannah’s blood pressure dropped.
“What’s happening?” Ethan asked.
No one answered directly.
A minute later, a small cry broke through the room.
Lily was lifted into view.
She was tiny, red-faced, and furious.
Hannah began to sob.
“She’s alive?”
“She’s alive,” Dr. Park confirmed.
A neonatal team carried Lily to a warmer.
Ethan looked between his wife and daughter.
Then an alarm sounded.
Hannah’s eyes lost focus.
“Ethan?”
“I’m here.”
“I’m cold.”
The anesthesiologist called out another pressure reading.
Dr. Park ordered medication.
The surgical team moved faster.
Ethan was guided backward as blood pooled in suction containers.
“Hannah, look at me.”
Her eyelids fluttered.
“Take care of her,” she whispered.
“You’re going to take care of her yourself.”
A nurse pulled Ethan away.
He shouted Hannah’s name as the doors closed between them.
Outside, Detective Collins waited with two officers.
“What happened?”
“She’s bleeding.”
Ethan looked toward the neonatal unit. “Where is Lily?”
“Under guard.”
The hospital initiated a Code White security lockdown. Elevators stopped. Exterior doors sealed. Every staff badge was checked.
Ten minutes later, security located the woman using the false nursing credentials.
She was inside a supply room changing clothes.
She carried a syringe filled with a drug capable of causing respiratory failure.
Under questioning, she claimed she had been paid to transport an infant after delivery. She refused to identify who hired her.
But police found messages on a disposable phone.
One read:
Once the mother is sedated, remove the girl through Service C. The father will be delayed at the board meeting.
Another said:
If the mother survives, Blackwood will certify postpartum psychosis.
The sender was saved only as L.M.
Logan Mercer.
Detective Collins received the arrest authorization moments later.
But when officers reached the family estate, Logan was gone.
So was Vivian.
The backup security server had been torn from the wine-cellar wall.
Ethan sat in the surgical waiting area for nearly an hour.
Finally, Dr. Park emerged.
Her gown had been changed, but exhaustion lined her face.
“She lost a significant amount of blood,” the doctor said. “We controlled the hemorrhage. She’s stable, but she’ll remain in intensive care.”
Ethan’s knees weakened.
“And Lily?”
“Premature, but breathing independently. She’s in the neonatal unit for observation.”
He covered his face.
For one moment, the missing money, the trust, the company, and the conspiracy disappeared.
His wife was alive.
His daughter was alive.
That was all that mattered.
Then Detective Collins approached.
“We found something in the false nurse’s phone.”
She displayed a photograph of a private jet.
The aircraft was registered to Mercer Agricultural Holdings, an inactive family subsidiary.
Flight records showed a departure scheduled for that evening, destination Montréal.
Two passengers were listed.
Vivian Mercer.
And an infant identified as Lily Mercer.
May you like
Ethan stared at the screen.
The reservation had been made six weeks before Lily was born.
