Chapter 3 - The Trap Closes
By 6:00 PM, the Veracruz sky had bruised into an ominous indigo. A coastal storm was blowing in from the Gulf, rattling the double-paned windows of Room 314.
Lucía sat on a vinyl stool beside the bed, holding Teresa’s weathered hand. The rhythmic *beep... beep... beep* of the heart monitor was the most beautiful music Lucía had ever heard. Teresa looked frail beneath the white hospital sheets, her dark skin pale and her breathing assisted by a nasal cannula, but her chest rose and fell in a deep, unobstructed rhythm.
"You're a fighter, Ma," Lucía whispered, kissing the back of her mother’s rough knuckles. "We’re going to get through this."
The door swung open without a knock.
A middle-aged man in a cheap polyester suit entered, clutching a thick red folder. Behind him stood two burly security guards.
"Lucía Morales?" the man asked in a nasal, mechanical tone.
Lucía stood up immediately, putting herself between the man and her mother's bed. "Yes. Who are you?"
"I’m Mr. Ortega, Head of Patient Accounts and Risk Management. It is now past six o’clock. Our records indicate no deposit has been posted for patient Teresa Morales. In accordance with private facility protocol, we have dispatched a transport team to relocate the patient to the General County Ward."
"No!" Lucía's voice cracked. "Dr. Salgado said she cannot be moved! Her heart just underwent surgery four hours ago!"
Ortega gave an indifferent shrug. "Dr. Salgado is a surgeon, not the Chief Financial Officer. His clinical jurisdiction ends when the sutures are tied. The director's office reviewed this file twenty minutes ago and personally denied any credit extension. Security, please clear the IV lines for transport."
The two guards stepped forward.
"Get away from her!" Lucía yelled, pulling Mateo’s card from her pocket and thrusting it in front of Ortega’s nose. "Dr. Salgado wrote this! He told me to show it to anyone who came here!"
Ortega glanced at the card, his expression souring into a smirk. "Ah. Dr. Salgado’s private extension. Miss Morales, Dr. Salgado has just been summoned to an emergency closed-door meeting with Director Alcázar regarding professional ethics and conflict of interest. He is currently suspended from administrative overrides. His card is useless."
Lucía’s heart plummeted into a bottomless pit. *Suspended?* Because of her?
"Please," Lucía begged, all pride vanishing as she grabbed Ortega’s sleeve. "Just give me until tomorrow morning! I have friends at the market. Don Rafael owns the cold storage—he will lend me the cash against our stall’s lease! I swear it on my father’s grave!"
Ortega pulled his arm away with obvious disgust. "The transfer ambulance is idling at the service bay. You have ten minutes to collect your mother’s personal effects, or she will be moved without you."
He turned and strode out, leaving the two guards stationed by the door like stone gargoyles.
Lucía looked at her sleeping mother. If Teresa was moved into a non-air-conditioned ambulance in the middle of a Gulf storm and dumped into a crowded county hallway, her heart would give out before midnight.
*Don Rafael.*
He was a loan shark who operated behind the wholesale shrimp market. Everyone knew his terms: twenty percent interest a month, backed by physical collateral and signed promissory notes. If you defaulted, his enforcers took your business, your vehicle, and your dignity.
Lucía pulled her purse over her shoulder, wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist, and turned to the guards.
"Don't you dare touch those monitors until I get back," she said, her voice dropping into a harsh, fierce growl that startled the men. "I'll have your money."
May you like
She sprinted out into the corridor, bypassing the elevators and taking the stairs three at a time. Bursting through the hospital's emergency exit, she plunged straight into the blinding Gulf rain.
***
