Chapter 7 - The Emergency Ward
The siren of the private ambulance shrieked against the night rain as it tore through the downtown streets, running every red light with three black security vehicles escorting it bumper-to-bumper. Inside, Julian held Elena’s cold hands between his own, his voice cracking for the first time in his life.
"Stay with me, Elena. Look at me. Look into my eyes," he commanded, tears pooling in the corners of his dark eyes. "You don't get to leave me. Neither of you."
"Julian... it hurts so much," she whispered, her vision blurring as the heart monitor beside the gurney beeped faster and more erratically. "Promise me... if you have to choose... choose our daughter."
"I am not choosing," Julian snarled, his voice breaking. "You are both surviving this night. I will burn this entire city to ash before I let either of you go."
The ambulance screeched to a halt beneath the underground trauma bay of St. Jude's Private Medical Facility. Julian leapt out, assisting the paramedics as they rolled the gurney into the emergency surgical theater. Dr. Vance was already waiting in sterile scrubs, flanked by four surgical nurses.
"Get him out of here!" Dr. Vance ordered, pointing at Julian. "He's covered in gunpowder and blood. Julian, you cannot come into the operating room!"
"If she dies on that table, Vance, you will answer to me!" Julian yelled as Marcus and two hospital guards dragged him backward through the swinging stainless steel doors.
The doors swung shut, locking Julian in the sterile, fluorescent-lit waiting room.
Julian collapsed against the wall, sliding down to the polished floor with his head buried in his hands. He was trembling. The man who had faced down armed syndicates and hostile boards of directors without flinching was completely shattered by the silence of an empty corridor.
Marcus stepped forward, holding out a secure satellite phone. "Julian. Our men raided Mateo’s safe house in the hills. He wasn't there."
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Julian slowly lifted his head. The sorrow vanished from his face, replaced by an abyss of pure venom. "Where did he run?"
"He boarded Arthur Vance’s private yacht thirty minutes ago," Marcus replied grimly. "They just cleared international waters."
