Chapter 8 - The Legal Ambush
The elevator doors of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital parted on the fourth floor, and I stepped out straight into a war zone.
Standing outside the double doors of Pediatric ICU Room 4 was Richard, Brenda Vance, an armed county sheriff’s deputy, and the hospital’s chief legal administrator.
“There she is!” Brenda pointed an immaculate, manicured finger at me. “Deputy, serve her.”
The deputy stepped forward, holding a crisp legal document stamped with a red wax seal. “Sarah Miller? I have an emergency temporary custody and medical power-of-attorney order signed by the Sixth District Family Court—”
“Get out of my way!” I snarled, dodging around him like a wild animal.
Richard lunged, grabbing my arm, his fingers digging into my coat. “You’re not going in there, Sarah! You’ve done enough damage!”
I didn't hesitate. I drove my elbow backward with every ounce of fury I had stored inside my body for five years of emotional abuse.
The blow caught Richard square in the sternum. He gasped, stumbling backward into the chrome water fountain, clutching his chest.
“Deputy!” Brenda shrieked. “Arrest her! Assault!”
“Touch me and I’ll make sure this entire hospital burns down around your heads!” I shouted, holding the damp manila folder high above my head like a torch. “In this folder are the unedited medical logs from Oak Creek Elementary! Two other children were infected by Cytec Industrial’s toxic discharge into Blackwood Creek! Principal Vance covered it up, and his sister-in-law Brenda Vance is orchestrating this fake custody claim to hide the crime!”
The hospital legal administrator froze. His eyes flicked to Brenda. “Is this true?”
“She’s raving!” Brenda snapped, her voice tightening. “She’s an unstable, neglectful mother trying to deflect blame!”
“Run the toxicological assay on this dead specimen from the creek!” I screamed, pulling the ziplock bag containing the infected frog from my coat pocket and slamming it onto the nurse’s station desk.
The entire corridor went dead silent.
Through the clear plastic, the charcoal-black filaments coiled inside the dead frog were clearly visible, twitching faintly against the cold surface of the desk.
The sheriff’s deputy took one look at the bag, then slowly lowered his hand from his holster. “What in the hell is that?”
Before Brenda could spin another lie, the automatic doors of the ICU slid open.
Dr. Reed stepped out. Her scrub top was flecked with spots of bright red blood. Her mask hung loose around her neck, and her eyes were fierce, terrifying fire.
May you like
“The debate is over,” Dr. Reed said coldly. “The patient’s heart rate just plummeted to 42. She’s in vascular collapse. I am invoking emergency implied consent under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act. I don't care about your judge’s order. I am taking this child into the OR right now.”
***
