Chapter 6: The Truth Between Two Grandfathers
Walter asked everyone except Ethan and me to leave the conference room.
When the door closed, he took Sarah’s letter from the table.
“I tried to control her,” he said.
“I told her the man she loved wasn’t good enough.”
“My son,” I replied.
“You mean my son.”
“Yes.
When Sarah refused to leave him, I threatened to cut her off.”
Ethan stared at him.
“Is that why Mom said you were gone?”
Walter nodded.
“She wanted you safe from me.”
“Safe from what?”
“My money.
My lawyers.
My belief that love gave me ownership.”
I stepped closer.
“Did you threaten to take Ethan?”
“I said I would seek custody if she kept my grandson from me.
Sarah knew it was an empty threat, but she also knew I had enough money to frighten her.”
Ethan pushed the letter away.
“Then why should we trust you now?”
“You shouldn’t,” Walter said.
“Not because I’m family.
Judge me by what I do next.”
He unfolded the final page.
Sarah had secretly enrolled Ethan in a family registry shortly after birth and sent a stored sample to Dr.
Shaw.
“She protected him from you,” I said, “but she protected his medical future too.”
Walter’s eyes filled.
“She was a better person than I was.”
The door opened, and Lena hurried inside.
“Dr.
Pike ordered Ethan discharged from the study and transferred to a long-term care facility.”
I shot to my feet.
“He can’t do that.”
“He can if the committee believes you interfered with treatment,” she said.
“Security is already upstairs.”
We reached Ethan’s room as two guards stood outside.
Dr.
Pike was removing files from the wall cabinet.
“Put those back,” I said.
He held up a sealed envelope.
“These are research materials, not personal records.”
Walter raised his phone.
“Say that again.”
Dr.
Pike glanced at the screen.
“Are you recording me?”
“Yes.”
Dr.
Pike closed the door.
“Turn it off, and I may be able to solve this.”
“What are you offering?” I asked.
“Ethan remains here.
His bills disappear.
Mr.
Hayes leaves, Dr.
Shaw withdraws, and Nurse Ortiz admits she was mistaken.”
Lena stepped beside me.
“You want us to lie.”
“I want everyone to act in Ethan’s best interest.”
Ethan sat upright in bed.
“Then show me page seven.”
Dr.
Pike’s expression hardened.
“You don’t understand what you’re asking.”
“I understand you’re scared of one piece of paper.”
Dr.
Pike grabbed Walter’s phone, but Walter held on.
The device fell and skidded beneath the bed.
“Security!” Dr.
Pike shouted.
“Remove these people.”
The guards entered, followed by the hospital chairman and Ms.
Doyle.
“Don’t remove anyone,” Ms.
Doyle said.
“The committee has frozen Dr.
Pike’s access.”
“You have no authority to interfere with patient care,” he snapped.
The chairman held up an order.
“As of ten minutes ago, you are suspended from Ethan’s case.”
Dr.
Pike lunged toward the computer.
Lena stepped in front of the keyboard.
“What were you trying to delete?” she asked.
His hand stopped in midair.
Walter retrieved his phone.
“The recording uploaded automatically.”
Dr.
Pike looked at me.
“If Ethan takes an unapproved treatment and suffers, that will be on you.”
“No,” Ethan said.
“What you hid is on you.”
Two administrators escorted Dr.
Pike from the room.
He turned at the doorway.
“False hope can be crueler than the truth.”
Dr.
Shaw arrived that afternoon under emergency temporary privileges.
She placed the recovered seventh page beside Sarah’s family report.
“The markers match,” she said.
“There is a targeted treatment, but Ethan is weak.
We need to begin carefully.”
Ethan held out his hand to me.
“What would you do?”
“I would fight for every honest chance.”
He looked at Walter.
“And you?”
“I would stay if you wanted me—and leave if you didn’t.”
Ethan held out his other hand.
“Stay.”
The first dose entered through the line in his arm.
Dr.
Shaw watched the monitor while Lena stood beside her.
Ten minutes later, Ethan’s eyes fluttered closed.
An alarm pierced the room.
“His pressure is falling,” Lena said.
Dr.
Shaw reached for the emergency controls.
“Ethan, open your eyes.”
