Chapter 3 - The Locked Wing
Massachusetts General became a fortress within minutes.
Hospital security sealed the emergency corridor. Two Boston police officers stood outside Ethan’s treatment room. Federal agents requested interviews. Reporters gathered near every public entrance.
Richard refused to leave Ethan until the doctors completed a full examination.
Lucy sat in a plastic chair outside the trauma bay. She had not released her backpack once.
A nurse offered her food.
Lucy took the sandwich but hid it in her jacket rather than eating it.
Richard noticed.
“When was the last time you had a meal?”
“I ate yesterday.”
“What?”
“Crackers.”
“That is not a meal.”
“It is when there are enough crackers.”
Richard ordered soup, fruit, bread, and warm milk from the cafeteria. Lucy stared at the tray as though accepting it might create a debt.
“You don’t have to earn food,” he told her.
She looked up sharply.
“Everyone earns food.”
“Not children.”
“At Nightingale they did.”
Richard sat across from her.
“What did they make you do?”
Lucy dipped the spoon into the soup but did not lift it.
“Tests.”
“What kind?”
“Memory. Pain. Breathing. Medicine. Sometimes they stopped our hearts for a few seconds to see how fast we came back.”
Richard’s stomach turned.
“That is impossible.”
“Doctors say that when they mean they hope it isn’t true.”
Before Richard could respond, the trauma room doors opened.
A physician approached.
“Mr. Harrison, Ethan is breathing independently. We found evidence of a sedative in his blood. The dose was low, but combined with airway obstruction, it could have been fatal.”
“So someone drugged him.”
“Yes.”
“Can I see him?”
“In a moment. There is another issue.”
The physician held up a scan.
“Ethan has a small device beneath the scar from his spinal surgery.”
Richard stared at the image.
“What kind of device?”
“We don’t know. It is not listed in his medical records.”
Richard felt as though the hospital floor had tilted.
Ethan’s final spinal operation had been performed at the Harrison Institute six months before Victoria’s death.
Victoria had supervised the surgical team.
“How long has it been there?”
“Based on tissue growth, several years.”
Lucy put down her spoon.
“It’s a monitor.”
The physician looked at her.
“How would you know?”
“All Nightingales had one.”
Richard stood.
“You have one inside you?”
Lucy touched the back of her neck.
“Mine stopped working.”
The physician asked permission to examine her. Lucy recoiled so violently that the chair scraped backward.
“No doctors.”
“This doctor won’t hurt you,” Richard said.
“They all say that.”
A familiar voice came from the corridor.
“Richard.”
Margaret Shaw walked toward them in a navy coat, accompanied by two attorneys and the foundation’s head of security, Owen Pike.
Margaret looked elegant and composed, but her eyes went directly to Lucy.
Lucy stopped breathing.
The spoon fell from her hand.
Owen Pike wore a silver signet ring on his left hand.
Lucy pointed at him.
“That’s the man.”
Richard turned.
Owen’s expression remained controlled.
“What is she talking about?”
“She says you were at the airport.”
“I came directly from the foundation office.”
Lucy backed against the wall.
“You put the cap in Ethan’s mouth.”
Owen looked at Richard with practiced concern.
“The child is confused.”
Richard stepped between them.
“Show me your airport parking record.”
Margaret lifted a hand.
“This is not the place.”
“My son was nearly murdered.”
“And accusing the head of our security based on the statement of a traumatized child will not help him.”
Lucy grabbed Richard’s sleeve.
“He has the key.”
“What key?” Richard asked.
She pointed at Owen’s ring.
“The bird opens the locked wing.”
The silver signet was engraved with a nightingale.
Owen covered it with his other hand.
Richard had seen the ring many times. Victoria had given identical rings to senior institute administrators.
He had always believed the bird represented her favorite childhood song.
A federal agent entered the corridor.
“Mr. Harrison, we need to speak with you.”
Richard did not look away from Owen.
“So do I.”
Owen’s jaw tightened.
Margaret stepped closer to Richard.
“Ethan needs stability. The media is already turning this into a circus. Let our team handle the child.”
“No.”
“She may belong in protective custody.”
“She stays where I can see her.”
Margaret’s expression hardened.
“You cannot simply claim a stranger because she carries a forged card.”
Richard removed the card from his pocket.
“Is it forged?”
Margaret looked at it only once.
That was enough.
She recognized it.
Richard lowered his voice.
“Where is the locked wing?”
“There is no locked wing.”
Lucy whispered, “Below the burned laboratory.”
Margaret became pale.
The federal agent interrupted.
“We have recovered security video from Terminal B. Mr. Pike appears on the footage forty minutes before the incident.”
Owen looked toward the stairwell.
May you like
Richard saw the decision in his eyes.
Owen ran.
