Chapter 14 - The Man Wearing a Doctor’s Badge)
The hospital went into immediate lockdown.
Every elevator stopped.
Security sealed maternity access.
Federal agents began checking identification.
Caroline was wheeled toward an operating room as Dr. Carter prepared for an emergency delivery.
“Find Arthur,” Caroline gasped.
“Reed is handling it.”
“My children.”
“I know.”
Another contraction ripped through her.
Sarah held her hand.
“Stay with me.”
Caroline almost laughed.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Dr. Carter examined the bleeding.
“We need to deliver.”
“How early?”
“Seven weeks.”
“Will he survive?”
“We have an excellent neonatal team.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“He has a very good chance.”
Caroline nodded through tears.
“Do it.”
Then the lights went out.
Only emergency illumination remained.
Sarah immediately reached for the portable monitor.
“Backup generator should engage.”
It did not.
Dr. Carter looked toward the ceiling.
“This isn’t a power failure.”
Outside the operating room, shouting erupted.
Then a gunshot.
Sarah locked the door.
Caroline struggled to sit upright.
“Arthur.”
Dr. Carter moved equipment manually.
“We deliver now.”
Another gunshot.
Closer.
Caroline heard someone pounding on the outer hallway door.
“Federal police!”
Sarah looked through the small window.
“No.”
“What?”
“The man has a federal vest.”
Caroline remembered the clinic.
Arthur’s resources.
His connections.
The pounding stopped.
Then the intercom activated.
“Dr. Carter.”
Arthur’s voice.
Caroline’s entire body stiffened.
“Open the door.”
Dr. Carter did not move.
“You’re endangering the infant.”
Arthur sounded almost amused.
“The infant belongs to my family.”
Caroline shouted.
“He belongs to me.”
Silence.
Then Arthur answered.
“That attitude is why you were never suitable.”
Dr. Carter leaned close to Caroline.
“We need five minutes.”
Caroline nodded.
“Take him out.”
Without normal power, the emergency cesarean became controlled chaos.
Battery lamps.
Manual equipment.
Sarah assisting.
Caroline awake beneath regional anesthesia because general sedation created additional risk.
She heard metal instruments.
Dr. Carter’s voice.
Pressure.
Movement.
Then crying.
A tiny, furious cry.
Caroline began sobbing.
“My baby.”
Dr. Carter lifted him briefly.
Small.
Red.
Alive.
“A boy.”
Caroline laughed through tears.
“I know.”
Sarah wrapped him quickly.
The locked door shook.
Arthur was forcing it.
Dr. Carter handed the baby toward the neonatal team entering through a secondary surgical passage connected to another operating room.
Caroline panicked.
“No.”
“He needs respiratory support.”
“Sarah goes with him.”
Sarah nodded.
“I won’t leave him.”
The baby disappeared through the inner door with Sarah.
Seconds later, the main door burst open.
Arthur entered.
He wore stolen medical identification beneath his coat.
A gun in his hand.
Dr. Carter stood between him and Caroline.
“You’re too late.”
Arthur looked toward the empty infant station.
His face changed.
“Where is he?”
Caroline smiled weakly.
“You lost.”
Arthur raised the gun.
Before he could fire, federal agents crashed through the outer corridor.
Shots.
Arthur fell.
The gun slid across the floor.
Caroline screamed.
Agent Reed kicked the weapon away.
Arthur was alive.
Shot in the shoulder.
He stared at Caroline from the floor.
And smiled.
“You still don’t understand.”
Reed handcuffed him.
“Understand what?”
Arthur looked at Caroline.
“Luke was never the one you needed to fear.”
Then he laughed.
Caroline’s smile disappeared.
A minute later, Sarah rushed back into the operating room.
Her face was pale.
Caroline knew immediately something was wrong.
“Where’s my baby?”
Sarah stopped.
“Caroline.”
“Where is he?”
“The neonatal transport incubator never reached the NICU.”
Nobody moved.
Caroline whispered, “What?”
May you like
Sarah was crying.
“They took him.”
