Chapter 5 - The Hospital Call
Night fell over New York City like a thick, velvet curtain. Rain began to patter rhythmically against the tall glass windows of my brownstone.
I sat in my reading room, a book resting unread in my lap, watching the hands of the grandfather clock creep past eleven o'clock.
According to Marcus's timeline, the process servers and board representatives should have already breached the private suite at The Grand Bay Hotel twenty minutes ago. Andrew's world was supposed to be collapsing under a avalanche of legal notices and corporate freezes right now.
Suddenly, the sharp, shrill ring of my mobile phone shattered the quiet room.
I looked at the caller ID.
It wasn't Marcus. It wasn't the legal team.
It was an unknown number with a local area code belonging to the Hudson Valley Medical Center—a regional trauma hospital located ten miles from The Grand Bay Hotel.
My pulse quickened slightly as I tapped the green icon and placed the phone to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Is this Mrs. Maya Carter?" a female voice asked, crisp, frantic, and drowned out by the background blare of hospital sirens and echoing PA announcements.
"Yes, this is Maya Carter."
"Mrs. Carter, my name is Nurse Jenkins from the Hudson Valley Emergency Trauma Center," the woman said rapidly. "You need to come here immediately. Something severe has happened at The Grand Bay Hotel."
I gripped the armrest of my chair. "What happened? Is my husband injured?"
"Mr. Andrew Carter was brought in by emergency dispatch fifteen minutes ago following a violent physical altercation and a high-speed vehicle collision near the hotel perimeter," the nurse explained, her voice grave. "He has sustained trauma, but he is conscious. He is refusing emergency surgical prep until he speaks with you."
"And the others?" I asked coldly. "Was there a woman with him? Victoria Carter?"
The line went quiet for a brief, heavy second before the nurse replied in a hushed tone. "Mrs. Carter, I cannot disclose details regarding other patients over the phone due to privacy regulations. But please... get here as fast as you can. Your husband keeps screaming your name. He says you're the only person who can save him from what's coming."
I sat frozen in the chair for three seconds.
A violent altercation? A vehicle collision?
Andrew hadn't just been caught in a legal trap—the snakes inside his little conspiracy had turned on each other before the law even reached the door.
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"I'm on my way," I said quietly.
I hung up, grabbed my heavy trench coat, pulled my car keys from the hook, and walked out into the pouring rain.
