Chapter 8 - The Doctor Who VanishedI couldn't move.
Dr. Grant stared at me like I was a ghost.
“What did my father tell you?”
He stepped outside and shut the door.
“You shouldn't be here.”
“Why?”
“Because people have been asking about you.”
“Who?”
He looked at the street.
“No one follows you, does they?”
“Not that I know.”
He rubbed his forehead.
“I knew this day would come.”
I felt my anger rising.
“You changed my medication.”
His eyes closed.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I didn't.”
“What?”
“I signed nothing.”
“But the record shows your authorization.”
“It was forged.”
My heart stopped.
“Who forged it?”
He stared at me.
“I never knew for certain.”
“Then why did you resign?”
He looked ashamed.
“Because I was threatened.”
“By my father?”
“Yes.”
“What did he threaten?”
“My daughter.”
I froze.
“He knew where she went to school.”
“Thomas threatened your daughter?”
“He told me if I spoke, I would never see her again.”
My hands curled into fists.
“What exactly did he want you to do?”
Dr. Grant looked away.
“Change one medication order.”
“Why?”
“He said it was temporary.”
“What did he tell you would happen?”
“That the treatment would still work.”
“That was a lie.”
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
He continued.
“I refused.”
“Then how was it changed?”
“I don't know.”
“Who could access the system?”
“Doctors. Nurses. Administrators.”
“Anyone else?”
He hesitated.
“The hospital's external billing system had access too.”
My pulse quickened.
“The billing department?”
“Yes.”
“Who was in charge?”
He gave me a name.
I recognized it instantly.
The man had been Thomas's business attorney.
My stomach turned.
“They were connected.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
Dr. Grant went inside and returned with a box.
“I kept this.”
He handed it to me.
Inside was the sealed envelope my grandfather had given him fifteen years ago.
I stared.
“You never opened it?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Your grandfather told me to give it to you if you survived.”
My hands trembled.
I opened it.
Inside was a single document.
A handwritten note.
Emily,
If you are reading this, then I was right.
Your father will attempt to control your future.
I cannot stop him from trying.
But I can protect you.
The trust is only one layer.
There is another asset.
One that cannot be touched by him.
Ask Laura about the blue ledger.
I stopped breathing.
Blue ledger.
I looked at Dr. Grant.
“What is this?”
He shook his head.
“I don't know.”
I called Laura.
She answered immediately.
“Emily?”
“Mom.”
Silence.
“What's wrong?”
“What's the blue ledger?”
There was a long pause.
Then Laura said:
“Where did you hear that?”
“Grandfather.”
She whispered:
“No.”
“Yes.”
“Emily, you need to come home.”
“Tell me.”
“Now.”
“What is it?”
She finally spoke.
“It contains the names of everyone who knew what your father did.”
My heart hammered.
“Where is it?”
Laura didn't answer.
“Mom.”
“I burned it.”
I froze.
“What?”
“I burned it fifteen years ago.”
“Why?”
“Because I was told that if anyone found it, you would be in danger.”
“Who told you?”
She hesitated.
Then she said the name I least expected.
“Your mother.”
Karen.
I sat in Dr. Grant's living room, staring at the wall.
“She gave you the ledger?”
“No.”
“She knew about it?”
“Yes.”
“Then she lied too.”
Dr. Grant nodded.
“What happened after you burned it?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“That night, your father called me.”
“What did he say?”
“He said the problem was solved.”
My blood went cold.
“What problem?”
Dr. Grant looked directly at me.
“You.”
I left his house with the note in my pocket.
But before I reached my car, someone shouted from across the street.
“Emily!”
I turned.
A black SUV sped away.
A man's voice followed:
“You should have stayed out of this.”
May you like
Then I noticed something on my windshield.
A small blue book.
