CHAPTER 4 – THE BILL SHE COULD NEVER PAY
CHAPTER 4 – THE BILL SHE COULD NEVER PAY
Boston General Hospital.
Forty-three minutes later.
Doctors rushed Mav into emergency surgery.
Outside the operating room, Rafe stood motionless.
Blood stained his expensive suit.
Not his blood.
Hers.
He hadn't bothered changing.
Celia sat nearby, wrapped in a blanket despite the summer heat.
She couldn't stop shaking.
"I almost died."
Rafe looked at her.
"No."
She frowned.
"I almost watched someone else die because of me."
An orthopedic surgeon emerged nearly two hours later.
"Family?"
Rafe stepped forward.
"I'm responsible."
The doctor hesitated.
"She suffered a fractured clavicle, two broken ribs, a severe shoulder injury, and internal bleeding. She also has a concussion."
"Will she live?"
"Yes."
Both siblings exhaled.
"But..."
The doctor continued,
"She'll need months of rehabilitation."
"When can we see her?"
"Tomorrow."
The doctor started to leave.
Then paused.
"One more thing."
"What?"
"When we checked her belongings..."
He handed over a worn envelope.
"It kept falling out of her apron."
Rafe opened it.
Hospital estimates.
Medication lists.
Insurance denials.
Every page carried the same name.
Finn Donovan.
Age: Nine.
Congenital heart defect.
Urgent corrective surgery recommended.
Estimated balance due...
Two hundred and eighteen thousand dollars.
Celia covered her mouth.
"Oh my God..."
Rafe silently turned each page.
Applications rejected.
Appeals denied.
Payment overdue.
One note had been handwritten by Mav.
Don't let Finn see these. Keep smiling.
His jaw tightened.
At that same moment...
Across town...
Mrs. Alvarez answered a knock at her apartment.
Two police officers stood outside.
"I'm looking for Finn Donovan."
The little boy peeked around the doorway.
"Did Mav send you?"
The officers exchanged glances.
"No, buddy."
Finn smiled anyway.
"She always comes home after work."
One officer knelt.
"Would you like to come with us to the hospital?"
Finn's smile disappeared.
"...Is my sister hurt?"
No one answered immediately.
Children always knew.
He slowly picked up his old teddy bear.
"I knew she was too tired today."
Back at Boston General...
Rafe sat alone in the waiting room.
Luca approached quietly.
"We've identified the attackers."
Rafe didn't respond.
"They work for Vincent Moretti."
Rafe's eyes finally lifted.
The room seemed to darken.
"He's claiming he only wanted to frighten you."
"He sent men to kill my sister."
"Yes."
A long silence followed.
Finally, Rafe asked,
"Did they know about the waitress?"
"No."
"They never planned for her."
Rafe looked once more at Finn's medical file.
"No."
"They planned for me."
He closed the folder carefully.
"They simply chose the wrong witness."
Luca recognized that tone.
It wasn't anger anymore.
It was judgment.
And everyone who had ever crossed Rafe Calloway knew one terrifying truth.
When he stopped shouting...
May you like
Someone's world was about to end.
End of Chapter 4.
