Chapter 7 - The Unseen Scalpel
Marcus slipped out of the dark office, leaving Leo hidden safely behind the locked door with a tablet set to silent. He took the emergency stairwell back down to the surgical floor, avoiding the main corridor where two of Arthur’s guards were posted.
Using his pass, Marcus bypassed the outer reception desk and entered the restricted scrub room adjoining Operating Suite 3. The glass panel showed four figures gathered around an operating table bathed in harsh halogen light. Elena lay beneath sterile green sheets, an array of monitors beeping erratically beside her head.
Standing at the head of the table was Dr. Harrison, the physician who had delivered the grim prognosis just an hour ago. Harrison’s hands were shaking slightly. He wasn't operating; he was holding a syringe near an IV port, watching the wall clock.
Ten minutes. The text had given Marcus ten minutes. Harrison was waiting for a signal.
Marcus grabbed a discarded surgical mask and gown from the laundry bin, threw them on, and stepped through the pneumatic doors with deliberate, measured steps.
""Who authorized you in here?"" the anesthesiologist snapped, looking up from the monitor.
Marcus didn't answer. He crossed the room in three strides, grabbed Dr. Harrison by the scrub collar, and slammed the older man back against the supply cabinet. Metal trays clattered, scalpels and clamps scattering across the tile floor.
""Marcus!"" Harrison gasped, his eyes bulging as Marcus’s fingers tightened around his windpipe.
""What is in that syringe?"" Marcus whispered, his voice barely above a hiss, yet vibrating with terrifying menace.
""It’s... it’s just saline—""
Marcus twisted Harrison’s arm, forcing the needle toward the doctor’s own neck. ""Inject it into yourself, then. Show me it’s saline.""
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Harrison broke instantly, tears spilling down his pale cheeks. ""Arthur! Arthur told me he’d destroy my family! He said my medical license would be gone by morning if I didn't make it look like an embolism!""
""Clear this room,"" Marcus ordered the terrified surgical team, his gaze locking onto the head nurse. ""Now! Get Dr. Chen from Obstetrics. Tell him Marcus Vance is calling in his debt.""
