Chapter 155
Chapter 155:
It was impossible. The fire. The body.
“She’s a child!” Vivian shouted, her voice shrill, trying to shatter the moment. “This is ridiculous! Look at her! She’s soaking wet! She’s probably a con artist p>
She signaled to Dr. Roberts, a pompous man she had kept on retainer. “Check her credentials! Now p>
Dr. Roberts stepped forward, puffing out his chest. “Young lady, unless you can produce a board certification from a recognized institution within the next ten seconds, I will have security remove you p>
Aurora didn’t look at Roberts. She didn’t look at Vivian. She kept her gaze locked on Edward.
“Do you want to save your mother,” Aurora asked, her voice quiet but carrying to every corner of the room, “or do you want to check my resume p>
Edward pushed Vivian aside. He did it with a strength that shocked everyone. He walked up to Aurora. His hands were trembling. He reached out, as if to touch her face, then pulled back at the last second, afraid she might vanish like smoke.
“Save her,” Edward pleaded. Tears streamed down his face, unashamed. “Please. Just… save her p>
“Uncle Edward!” Vivian screeched. “You are letting a stranger kill Mother p>
“If she dies,” Edward said, turning to glare at his niece with a hatred that had been brewing for decades, “then she dies trying to live. Get out of the way p>
Aurora felt a crack in her composure. The pain in this man’s eyes was visceral. It mirrored a pain she had seen in her grandfather’s eyes a thousand times. She nodded once.
“Prepare the room p>
She moved toward the ICU doors.
Dr. Shaw stood in front of them, her arms crossed over her chest. She looked like a gatekeeper to the underworld.
𝙈𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨 ⓘ𝓷 gⱯ𝗅𝗇𝗈ν𝖊𝗅𝘀⧼𝖼𝗈𝗺
“Not in my hospital,” Shaw declared. “I will not have this circus in my OR p>
Aurora stopped inches from Dr. Shaw. She didn’t look up; she looked straight ahead, meeting the doctor’s eyes levelly.
“The patient is in Cheyne-Stokes respiration,” Aurora said. She recited the vitals she had heard Harper reading in the car, committing them to memory instantly. “Her intracranial pressure is spiking. You’ve tried mannitol. It failed. You’ve tried hyperventilation. It failed. You are out of options, Doctor p>
Shaw blinked. “How do you p>
“I listen,” Aurora said. “And I see what you missed. There’s a blockage in the meridian channel connecting the liver to the brain stem. Stress-induced. Chemical. You’re treating the flood, but you haven’t closed the dam p>
“Meridians?” Shaw scoffed. “We are talking about neurology, not magic p>
“I am talking about bio-electricity,” Aurora countered. “Call it what you want. She has ten minutes before the brainstem herniates. Do you want to argue semantics, or do you want a pulse p>
“I cannot allow this,” Shaw insisted. “Liability. Ethics. My license p>
“Then we buy the hospital p>
The voice came from behind them. It was Atticus.
He stood there, phone in hand. He looked dead serious.
“I am on the line with the Chairman of the Board,” Atticus said calmly. “I can acquire a controlling interest in this facility in exactly eight minutes. And my first act as owner will be to terminate your employment and blacklist you from every medical institution in the hemisphere p>