Chapter 16 - The Woman in Scrubs
The fake nurse reached beneath her jacket.
Sophia slammed the IV stand into her arm.
The object she had been reaching for struck the floor.
Emily hit the emergency button.
Alarms sounded.
The woman turned toward Sophia.
“You should have stayed useful.”
Sophia went pale.
“You work for Daniel.”
The woman lunged.
Sophia grabbed her wrist.
They crashed against the wall.
Emily tried to sit up.
Pain tore across her abdomen.
She gasped.
The fake nurse shoved Sophia onto the floor.
Then she turned toward Emily.
The door flew open.
Two hospital security officers entered.
The woman froze.
For one second.
Then she ran toward the bathroom.
Mason screamed from inside.
“Dad!”
Emily’s heart stopped.
“MASON!”
Sophia threw herself at the woman.
They hit the bathroom door together.
The woman slammed Sophia against the wall.
But the delay was enough.
Security tackled her.
Mason opened the bathroom door.
Emily began crying.
He ran to her bed.
“Mom.”
She pulled him against her.
Sophia remained on the floor.
Blood ran from her lip.
Mason looked at her.
“You saved me.”
Sophia said nothing.
Michael arrived eleven minutes later.
He ran into the room.
Mason went to him.
Michael hugged his son.
Then he saw Sophia.
She was sitting beside the wall with a security guard watching her.
Michael looked at Emily.
“What happened?”
Emily answered.
“She stopped the woman.”
Michael looked at Sophia.
Sophia laughed weakly.
“Don’t look so impressed.”
Michael did not smile.
Emily continued.
“She was here to tell me about Dad’s letter.”
Michael frowned.
“What letter?”
Sophia explained Jonathan’s message.
The lake house.
The hidden safe.
Samuel’s final letter.
Michael looked toward Thomas.
Thomas nodded.
“We secure the hospital first.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
Michael looked at her.
“No?”
“If Jonathan knows where that safe is, Marcus probably knows too.”
“You just had surgery.”
“I’m not going.”
“Good.”
Emily pointed toward Sophia.
“She is.”
Sophia stared at her.
“Excuse me?”
Emily’s eyes remained steady.
“My father left you that letter.”
“Our father.”
Emily nodded.
“Our father.”
Sophia’s expression cracked.
It was the first time Emily had acknowledged the relationship without bitterness.
Michael noticed.
Emily continued.
“But if you go, you go with Michael and the police.”
Sophia looked at Michael.
“He hates me.”
Emily’s voice went cold again.
“He should.”
Sophia looked down.
Emily continued.
“But you may be the only person who can identify what Jonathan and Marcus are searching for.”
Michael crossed his arms.
“And after this?”
Sophia understood.
“I answer for what I did.”
“Yes.”
Sophia swallowed.
“Yes.”
Michael walked toward Emily.
He stopped before touching her.
“I’ll come back.”
Emily looked at him.
“This isn’t about us.”
“I know.”
“Finding evidence does not fix what you did.”
“I know.”
“You slapped me while I was carrying your child.”
Michael closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Emily’s voice softened slightly.
“Then stop saying you know.”
Michael opened his eyes.
She continued.
“Become the kind of man who would never do it again.”
Michael nodded once.
Then he left with Sophia.
In the hallway, Sophia whispered.
“She’s going to leave you.”
Michael kept walking.
“I know.”
Sophia looked at him.
“You’re just accepting that?”
Michael stopped.
He looked at his sister.
“No.”
May you like
His voice was quiet.
“I’m accepting that she has the right to.”
