Chapter 4 - The Name on the BadgeI left Nate's room with my heart pounding.
Your hospital.
That was what he'd said.
Not his company.
Not the police.
Not his family.
My hospital.
I went straight to the physician lounge and locked the door.
Dr. Harris followed.
"What happened?"
"He woke up."
"What did he say?"
I hesitated.
"He told me to run."
Dr. Harris frowned.
"Why?"
"He said my hospital."
His face changed.
"You mean St. Vincent's?"
I nodded.
He looked toward the door.
"Who else knows?"
"Detective Bennett."
"Good."
He closed the blinds.
"There's something you should know."
I folded my arms.
"I've learned to hate that sentence."
He almost smiled.
Almost.
Then he didn't.
"Patient 417 wasn't just a cardiology patient."
"What was she?"
"Part of a clinical trial."
"For Meridian?"
"Yes."
"What trial?"
"An experimental implant."
"Under whose authorization?"
He didn't answer.
"Michael Avery?"
He nodded.
"And who funded it?"
"Turner Biomedical."
Nate's family company.
I sat down.
"This can't be real."
"It gets worse."
"Of course it does."
Dr. Harris leaned against the desk.
"Patient 417 wasn't supposed to die."
"Then what happened?"
"She developed an acute reaction."
"What kind?"
"Device malfunction."
"Was it reported?"
"Yes."
"To whom?"
He looked at me.
"Dr. Avery."
My stomach tightened.
"What happened next?"
"The report disappeared."
"Disappeared?"
"The internal file was altered."
"By whom?"
"We don't know."
I stood.
"You knew this."
"I suspected."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I wasn't sure."
"And now?"
"Now your husband is in the ICU after visiting the assistant linked to the project."
I looked at him.
"Why would Nathaniel be involved?"
"Maybe because he was trying to expose it."
I stared.
"That doesn't fit."
"What doesn't?"
"Nate is hiding something. Maybe many things. But why would he risk himself to expose his family's company?"
"Maybe he wasn't exposing them."
I looked at him.
"Maybe he was helping them."
The words hit harder than they should have.
My phone rang.
Detective Bennett.
"Mrs. Turner, we found something else."
"What?"
"The USB drive was encrypted."
"Can you break it?"
"Eventually."
"What's on it?"
"We don't know."
"Then why are you calling?"
"Because we found the password."
My throat tightened.
"What is it?"
She was silent for a second.
Then:
"Your employee ID number."
I froze.
"Mine?"
"Yes."
I looked at Dr. Harris.
He saw my expression.
"Why would your ID be the password?"
"I don't know."
"Detective, who gave you the number?"
"It was written inside the drawer with the drive."
"Anything else?"
"Yes."
"What?"
A pause.
"Your name."
"What exactly?"
She read from the note.
HANNAH KNOWS WITHOUT KNOWING.
I closed my eyes.
Then I understood.
Nate hadn't just hidden a secret from me.
He had built a secret around me.
I returned to the ICU.
Nate was awake.
Barely.
I stood beside his bed.
"Did you use my ID?"
His eyes filled with fear.
I leaned down.
"Patient 417."
His breathing changed.
"Meridian."
His face went pale.
"Dr. Avery."
He closed his eyes.
I whispered,
"What did you do?"
His hand moved beneath the sheet.
He pulled out a tiny folded piece of paper.
He forced it into my palm.
Then he whispered,
"Don't trust the chief."
My fingers trembled.
"What chief?"
He looked at me.
"The one who made you a doctor."
May you like
Before I could ask anything else, alarms exploded around us.
Nate's heart rhythm disappeared.
