Chapter 15 - The Hospital Lockdown
Riverside Medical Center went into immediate lockdown.
Police searched every floor.
Engineers disconnected remote access to the oxygen system, but Celia had installed a hidden override years earlier.
Maya was moved to a secure pediatric wing with Margaret.
Emily refused to leave.
At 6:17 p.m., oxygen alarms sounded throughout the building.
Ventilators switched to backup tanks.
A message appeared on the hospital’s internal screens.
BRING THE ORIGINAL LEDGER TO THE ROOFTOP.
Emily carried a decoy copy.
Ortiz followed through a separate stairwell.
On the roof, Celia stood beside the main control relay.
Wind tore at her coat.
She held a detonator.
“You ruined decades of work,” Celia said.
“You nearly murdered my daughter.”
“Your daughter produced the best biometric data we ever collected.”
Emily felt rage rise, but she forced her voice to remain calm.
“You lost.”
Celia smiled.
“Not if history remembers you as the mother who destroyed a hospital.”
She demanded the microfilm.
Emily stepped closer.
“Release the system first.”
Celia pressed a button.
Several backup oxygen units shut down.
Through Emily’s radio came frantic voices from intensive care.
She handed over the decoy.
Celia examined it and immediately knew.
“You think I’m stupid?”
She lunged for Emily.
They crashed against the rooftop railing.
The detonator slid across the concrete.
Ortiz emerged, but Celia pulled Emily in front of her and held a scalpel to her throat.
“Drop the gun.”
Ortiz obeyed.
Then the rooftop door opened.
Robert stepped out wearing handcuffs, escorted by two officers.
He had agreed to help identify the override mechanism.
Celia stared at him.
“You weak coward.”
Robert looked at Emily.
For once, there was no arrogance in his face.
Only shame.
“The detonator is linked to her heartbeat monitor,” he said. “If you shoot her, the system blows.”
Celia smiled.
May you like
“Then no one leaves.”
👉 Robert knew how Celia’s trap worked—but stopping it would require him to make the first selfless choice of his life.
