Chapter 4 - Vanessa’s Door
Daniel did not answer his phone again that night.
Hospital security reviewed the hallway footage. At 1:48 a.m., someone wearing a surgical mask, cap and borrowed staff jacket had entered the medication room using a temporary access badge.
The person’s face was hidden.
The badge belonged to a nurse who had reported it missing during her shift.
Daniel appeared on another camera leaving the hospital parking garage at 1:32.
He had returned at 2:06.
The times did not prove that he had entered the medication room.
They only proved that he could have arranged it.
Emily reported the theft to hospital security and the police. An officer took a statement but explained that the pharmacy audit would be needed before they could determine exactly what had happened.
Daniel returned to Lily’s room at dawn carrying coffee.
He acted as if nothing were wrong.
Emily stood between him and the bed.
“Where are the other two doses?”
He looked at the empty case.
“How would I know?”
“They were transferred using my account.”
“Then maybe you transferred them.”
“I was sitting beside Lily.”
“You leave the room all the time.”
“Security footage will show where I was.”
Daniel placed the coffee on the counter.
“You should think carefully before making accusations you can’t prove.”
“Vanessa can prove you took the first dose.”
“She won’t speak to you.”
“She will speak to the police.”
For the first time, Daniel’s composure broke.
Only slightly.
His eyes shifted toward the hallway, and his fingers tightened around the paper cup.
Then he smiled.
“Vanessa is ill. Harassing her would be cruel.”
Emily took her coat from the chair.
“Rachel is staying with Lily while Dr. Bennett reviews the replacement order.”
Daniel moved toward the door.
“You’re not going to her apartment.”
Emily stepped around him.
“You don’t get to decide where I go.”
He caught her wrist.
The contact was brief, but firm enough to stop her.
Emily looked down at his hand.
Daniel released her.
“You’re emotional,” he said.
“No. I’m finally paying attention.”
Vanessa lived in a luxury tower overlooking the river.
The apartment had been purchased six months earlier by a Carter Development subsidiary that Emily had never heard of.
She pressed the buzzer repeatedly until Vanessa answered.
“What are you doing here?”
“I need to see the medication Daniel gave you.”
A long silence followed.
Then the lobby door unlocked.
Vanessa waited in the apartment wearing an expensive cream sweater and no sign of illness. She looked tired, but not physically unwell.
Emily entered without removing her coat.
“Where is it?”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“Daniel said you might come.”
“Then he told you why.”
“He said you were trying to blame him for a pharmacy mistake.”
“He sent me a message admitting that he took Lily’s dose for you.”
Vanessa’s eyes flickered.
“He shouldn’t have written that.”
“Did he give you the medication?”
“I’m not discussing my health.”
“Lily is in the hospital.”
“I know.”
“Her treatment was stolen.”
Vanessa looked toward the windows.
Emily took out her phone.
“I’m calling the police.”
“Wait.”
Vanessa’s voice was barely audible.
Emily stopped.
Vanessa walked to a kitchen drawer and removed a small insulated envelope. It carried Lily’s prescription label.
Emily felt sick.
“You have it.”
“I didn’t use it.”
“Then why didn’t you return it?”
“Daniel told me it was a sample the hospital had approved.”
“My daughter’s name is on the label.”
“He said the hospital reused the packaging.”
“You believed that?”
Vanessa looked ashamed for only a second.
Then her expression hardened.
“I believed what was convenient.”
Emily opened the envelope.
It was empty.
“Where is the container?”
“I gave it back to Daniel yesterday.”
“Why?”
“Because he didn’t really want me to use it.”
Emily stared at her.
“Then why did he take it?”
Vanessa walked toward the living room and picked up a tablet. She opened an email and turned the screen around.
A payment confirmation showed a deposit of $96,000 to a company called Meridian Patient Relief.
The transfer description read:
Specialized medication acquisition reimbursement.
Emily looked at the sender.
Carter Family Medical Reserve.
Her father had created that reserve to pay for Lily’s treatment.
“You were paid ninety-six thousand dollars?”
“Daniel said the reserve owed me compensation.”
“For what?”
“For accepting the medical shipment.”
“You were a false recipient.”
Vanessa looked toward the door.
“You need to leave.”
“Who bought the dose?”
“I don’t know.”
“Who received the other two?”
“I don’t know.”
Emily moved closer.
“Who owns Meridian Patient Relief?”
Vanessa’s face went still.
Before she could answer, the elevator chimed outside the apartment.
Daniel stepped into the hallway.
He saw Emily through the open door.
May you like
Then he saw the payment confirmation on the tablet.
“Vanessa,” he said quietly, “what did you show her?”
