Chapter 7 - The Doctor's Call.
.Victor ended the call without saying goodbye.
No one moved.
Evan felt as if the corridor had narrowed around him.
"Put him on speaker," Evan said.
Victor lowered the phone.
"The call ended."
"Call him back."
"No."
Claire stepped between them before Evan could react.
"Why did he say Olivia was never supposed to wake up?"
Victor looked at her.
"You heard half a sentence."
"We heard enough to ask a question."
Noah extended his hand.
"I need the number for my report."
Victor gave him a cold smile.
"You are hospital security, not law enforcement."
"Correct."
Noah did not lower his hand.
"Which means my job is to protect the hospital from threats, including internal ones."
Victor slipped the phone into his pocket.
"There is no threat."
The doors to Olivia's room opened.
A resident physician hurried toward them.
"Mr. Cross?"
Evan turned immediately.
"Is she awake?"
"Briefly."
"Can I see her?"
The resident hesitated.
"One person."
Claire touched Evan's arm.
He flinched before he could stop himself.
She pulled her hand away.
The space between them suddenly held everything he had done.
"Go," she said.
Evan entered the room alone.
Olivia looked smaller than he remembered.
Her face was pale, her hair spread across the pillow, her eyes only half open.
He sat beside her.
"Liv, it is me."
Her fingers moved toward his hand.
He held them gently.
"I need to ask you about the woman in red."
Olivia's lips moved.
He leaned closer.
"Not Claire."
Evan closed his eyes.
Relief and shame hit him together.
"Who?"
Olivia struggled to speak.
"Gala. Red jacket."
"Do you know her name?"
Olivia's eyes shifted toward the window.
"Folder."
"What folder?"
"Audit."
Her breathing became uneven.
Evan squeezed her hand.
"Where is it?"
Olivia whispered one word.
"Locker."
Then another.
"Twelve."
The resident stepped closer.
"Mr. Cross, that is enough."
Evan stood.
Olivia caught his sleeve with surprising strength.
"Do not trust Marcus."
Evan stared at her.
"Why?"
Her eyes filled with urgency.
"He changed my chart."
The resident looked sharply toward the monitor.
"We need to let her rest."
Evan left the room with his heart pounding.
Claire, Noah, Dana, and Victor were waiting.
"Olivia said the woman in red was not Claire," Evan said.
Claire looked away for a moment.
Evan forced himself to continue.
"She also said not to trust Dr. Hale."
Victor's expression became blank.
Noah asked, "Anything else?"
Evan nodded.
"Locker twelve."
Dana's eyes widened.
"The physician locker room?"
Claire shook her head.
"No."
She remembered the gala layout.
"The foundation donor coat check has numbered storage lockers."
Victor's face went pale.
Claire saw it.
"You know what is in twelve, don't you?"
Victor stepped backward.
Evan thought about every dinner Marcus had shared with their family and every time Olivia had defended him as one of the few doctors she trusted.
The possibility of betrayal felt personal in a way the missing footage had not.
Claire saw the conflict on Evan's face.
She reminded him quietly that trust and evidence were not the same thing.
May you like
This time, Evan did not argue.
Then the hospital lights went out.
