Chapter 4 - What the Camera Missed
Deleted security footage changed Raymond from angry to surgical.
He called the hospital’s compliance officer, outside counsel, and IT director into a conference room two doors down. Nobody was allowed to use a hospital computer until forensic copies were made.
I stayed on the monitor with Priya.
Grant sat beside me, looking like a man watching his house burn from the inside.
“I should have asked you,” he said.
“Yes.”
“I thought Mom was helping.”
“That’s always what you think.”
He flinched.
A soft knock came at the door.
A young nurse stood outside, twisting her badge between her fingers.
“My name is Mia Jensen,” she said. “I was assigned to Mrs. Hart before lunch.”
Priya waved her in.
Mia closed the door behind her.
“I need to tell someone what happened.”
Grant leaned forward.
Mia looked at me instead.
“Dr. Pierce ordered me to bring the injection. The medication in the electronic order was hydroxyzine for anxiety.”
Priya frowned. “That’s not what was in the syringe.”
“I know.”
Mia’s hands trembled.
“I scanned the vial before I drew it up. The barcode rejected it. Dr. Pierce took it from me and said he would prepare it himself.”
My skin went cold.
“Did you see the vial?”
“Yes.”
“What was it?”
She hesitated.
“Midazolam.”
Priya swore under her breath.
Grant stood so fast his chair tipped over.
“That can sedate her.”
“Yes,” Priya said. “And in a pregnant patient, you do not casually substitute medication without documentation and informed consent.”
Mia kept talking.
“There’s more. Mrs. Hart arrived before Mr. Hart did. She asked me whether the ‘hold paperwork’ was already active.”
Grant stared at the floor.
I felt something inside me go very still.
“Why didn’t you report it?”
“I tried.”
Mia pulled out her phone.
“I called the nursing supervisor. Five minutes later, my access to your chart was removed.”
Priya looked at Raymond, who had just entered behind her.
Raymond’s face hardened.
“Who removed it?”
Mia showed him the screen.
The audit log contained one administrator name.
Denise Alvarez read it aloud.
“Caleb Morton.”
Grant’s head snapped up.
I knew that name too.
May you like
Caleb Morton wasn’t just a hospital administrator.
He was Evelyn’s brother.
