Chapter 15 - The Night the Hospital Went Dark
The power failed at Chicago Children's Hospital at 11:17 p.m.
At first, the staff assumed it was an ordinary electrical interruption.
Emergency lighting activated.
Backup generators started.
Critical care monitors continued operating.
But within sixty seconds, the hospital's security system reported simultaneous access failures in three separate corridors.
One of them led directly to Julian's research office.
I learned about the incident because Julian called me from the hospital.
"Claire, listen carefully," he said. "I'm fine, but security believes someone deliberately interfered with a section of the building's network."
My stomach dropped.
"Where are you?"
"In the pediatric intensive care wing."
"Come home."
"I can't leave until the patients are secure."
Of course he couldn't.
That was Julian.
He had spent his life caring for children whose next breath could never be taken for granted.
I loved him for it.
And now someone appeared to be exploiting that very goodness.
Marco arrived at our house before I finished the call.
Rachel had already contacted him.
"We're going to the hospital," he said.
I grabbed my coat.
Julian called again while we drove.
"Claire, somebody entered my office."
"What?"
"The door was forced. The records cabinet is open."
"Did they take anything?"
"I don't know yet."
A voice called his name in the background.
Then the line disconnected.
I nearly screamed.
Marco accelerated through the rain.
By the time we reached the hospital, police vehicles lined the emergency entrance.
Inside, the corridors glowed with backup lighting.
Nurses moved calmly between patients while security personnel directed visitors away from restricted areas.
Rachel intercepted us outside the elevators.
"Julian is safe," she said immediately.
I exhaled so sharply that my knees trembled.
"Where is he?"
"Speaking with investigators."
She led us into a conference room.
Julian stood near the window, unharmed but visibly shaken.
I crossed the room and embraced him.
He held me tightly.
"I'm okay."
"Don't ever scare me like that again."
He kissed my forehead.
"I'll do my best."
Rachel placed a photograph on the table.
It showed Julian's office.
The computer monitor was smashed.
Paperwork covered the floor.
But one object remained untouched.
A framed photograph of Lily.
Beside it lay a folded note.
Rachel read the message aloud.
"Some children were never meant to survive."
The room fell silent.
I felt something inside me change.
Grief had made me retreat from the world once.
Fear would not do it again.
"Whoever wrote that," I said, "wants me to stop looking."
Rachel nodded.
"And the message suggests someone knows more about Lily's medical history than we've established."
Julian sat beside me.
"I checked the hospital's archived referral records before the interruption," he explained. "I found an unusual authorization request submitted several weeks before Lily died."
He passed Rachel a printed document.
It carried the letterhead of an independent medical consulting company.
Northstar Clinical Advisory Services.
I stared at the name.
Northstar.
The same name used by the company that had purchased the mansion.
"What kind of authorization?" Rachel asked.
"Permission to access portions of Lily's treatment history for an external review. The request was approved by a guardian listed on the paperwork."
I looked at him.
"Which guardian?"
Julian's expression was filled with regret.
"Vincent."
My hands went cold.
"Vincent signed something?"
"According to the form."
I remembered how casually my former husband handled medical decisions.
He rarely attended appointments.
He often signed paperwork without reading it.
Had someone used his signature to obtain sensitive information?
Or had Vincent known far more than he ever admitted?
Rachel took the document.
"We need to authenticate it before drawing conclusions."
Before anyone could speak again, Marco's telephone rang.
He stepped into the corridor.
When he returned, his face had turned pale.
"Salvatore's dead."
I stared at him.
"What?"
"He was found in his Milwaukee apartment. Police haven't released a cause."
My heart pounded.
Salvatore was the last person who had tried to warn me.
He had called Keller's disappearance a danger.
He had mentioned Evelyn.
Now he was dead.
Rachel immediately began making calls.
Julian took my shaking hands.
"Claire, look at me."
I tried.
"We're going to protect our family."
I swallowed.
"That's what I thought I was doing four years ago."
He shook his head.
"You did everything you could for Lily. The people who failed her are responsible for their choices."
His words brought tears to my eyes.
But before I could answer, Rachel returned.
"We've confirmed something about Salvatore's final movements."
She looked directly at me.
"Yesterday morning, he purchased a plane ticket to Oregon."
I frowned.
"Why Oregon?"
May you like
Rachel's expression tightened.
"Because he was going to see Vincent."
