Chapter 4 - The Escape from Room 402
The line went completely dead.
Panic, cold and sharp, flooded my veins. I looked at Detective Miller, who was standing near the door, talking into her radio. I couldn't trust anyone. If Michael had five hundred thousand dollars to wire to Switzerland, how deep did his connections go? How many people in this very hospital were on his payroll?
"Mommy, my arm tickles," Lily said suddenly, pointing to her IV line.
I walked over and looked at the IV bag. The clear liquid inside looked normal, but as I glanced down at the plastic port, I noticed a tiny, distinct white residue clinging to the rubber seal. Someone had already tampered with it. Someone was trying to sedate her.
"Detective Miller!" I called out, my voice laced with urgency. "I need you to check on the lab results downstairs. Dr. Evans said something went wrong with the entry logs."
"I'll be right back, Evelyn. Keep the door locked," Miller said, stepping out into the busy corridor.
The moment the door clicked shut, I leaped into action. I ripped the tape off Lily's arm, pulling the IV needle out gently. I grabbed her winter coat and wrapped her tightly in my arms.
"Mommy? Where are we going?" Lily asked, her large, innocent eyes looking up at me.
"We’re going on an adventure, sweetie. A real game. But we have to be very, very quiet," I whispered, kissing her forehead.
I slipped out of the room’s side door, entering the service hallway instead of the main corridor. As I hurried down the concrete stairs toward the basement exit, the hospital's PA system crackled to life.
"Code Blue, Room 402. Secure all exits. Patient missing."
They were already tracking us. I burst through the emergency basement doors into the freezing morning air of the parking garage. I ran to my SUV, threw Lily into her car seat, and slammed the doors shut. As I started the engine, a black sedan tore around the corner of the garage, its high beams blinding me.
The driver didn't hesitate; he accelerated straight toward my vehicle.
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I slammed my foot onto the gas, throwing the SUV into reverse. My tires screeched against the concrete as I swerved around a support pillar, narrowly avoiding a head-on collision. I shifted into drive, smashed through the plastic parking gate, and roared out onto the main highway, leaving the dark sedan trapped behind the traffic.
We were alive, and we were out. But I was a mother on the run with a five-year-old child whose very blood was worth millions to the most dangerous people in the world.
