Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 114793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 114793 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 574(@200wpm)___ 459(@250wpm)___ 383(@300wpm)
The sharp shriek of alarms shattered the quiet. I jumped to my feet, heart slamming into my ribs, as the monitors around Gabby erupted in a chorus of warning tones. A nurse rushed in seconds later, followed by two more staff and a man in dark blue scrubs with a stethoscope already around his neck.
“What’s happening?” I demanded, moving toward them, only to be stopped by a firm hand on my chest.
“Please step back,” one of the nurses ordered quickly.
Another nurse was already adjusting lines, and the man in the lead barked out orders I couldn’t track fast enough. Something about possible internal bleeding and her vitals dropping.
A moment later, a doctor rushed in with a trauma cart and shouted, “Page surgery now. Get her down to OR three!”
“Internal bleeding?” I repeated, my voice hoarse.
“Ruptured spleen,” one of them told me, moving fast. “It’s most likely a result of the accident. It didn’t show up on the initial imaging, but then her blood pressure dropped too suddenly for us to wait. We need to go—now.”
“And the head injury?” I asked, afraid of the answer.
The guy I was talking to was so involved in what he was doing for Gabby that he answered it automatically, likely not meaning to be as blunt as it came out. “Fracture to the skull, which we'll monitor closely. But we need to stop the bleeding first.”
And then they were moving, wheeling her out in a flurry of bodies and clipped voices. I stood in the hallway, watching the blur as her bed vanished around a corner, feeling helpless in a way I hadn’t felt since the moment I realized she was gone.
Ira stepped up beside me. “Come on, son. Let’s wait somewhere we can sit. You won’t do her any good pacing a hallway.”
The three of us ended up in a small family waiting room filled with tired beige chairs and stacks of outdated magazines no one wanted to read. The overhead lights buzzed softly, casting a dull glow over everything, while the air carried a sharp mix of coffee and disinfectant—an unpleasant experience for the nose. I sat hunched forward, elbows resting on my knees, eyes fixed on the floor as if it might offer answers no one else could.
“Do you think it'll be risky because of the fracture?” I murmured.
“She’s strong,” Ira assured me gently. “She made it this far.”
Gladys sat quietly in the chair beside me, her uninjured hand working a tissue into frayed ribbons in her lap. Her gaze was distant, unfocused as if she were listening to something only she could hear—memories, maybe, or thoughts too heavy to speak aloud. After several long minutes of silence, I finally turned to her.
“Do you know what Maddox is planning next?”
Her lips parted, but no sound came out at first. Then, in that soft, wistful tone of hers, she replied, “Colin’s not a bad boy, he’s just…been led astray. Clayton was always trouble. That boy whispered in his ear for years—never let him be the man I raised him to be.”
Ira’s head turned sharply, and when he spoke this time, his voice was firm. “Gladys, it’s time.”
She looked at him, startled.
“It’s time you accept the facts,” he told her gently. “He’s not a boy anymore, and he didn’t just fall in with the wrong crowd. He is the wrong crowd.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. “But if I say it out loud…if I admit it…”
“Maybe it’s the only way. Help Webb stop this before someone else gets hurt.”
She nodded slowly, then turned to me with tears sliding down her cheeks.
“He’s building on land that should’ve never been approved,” she admitted, her voice trembling. “It’s swampland—unstable ground that shifts with the rain and collapses during storms. No one should be building anything out there, but he got the land cheap and knew exactly who to pay off. Inspectors, politicians, it was all handled under the table.”
My breath caught.
“He’s trying to build a whole development,” she went on, “but if it fails, he owes his investors millions. Colin doesn’t like owing anyone money, and he’s never allowed himself to lose a deal. When things start to unravel, people have a way of disappearing—either because they know too much or because there’s a chance they might talk.”
She pressed her hand to her lips as if to keep from sobbing outright. “He doesn’t leave things to chance.”
I sat back slowly, the weight of her words settling in like cement. Gabby hadn’t just seen something she shouldn’t have—she’d threatened to unravel everything.
This wasn’t about damage control anymore. This was about survival for all of us. And if Gabby made it through that surgery, we were going to make sure he paid for every last crime he thought he could bury.
Chapter 25
Webb
The lights in the ICU never went completely dark, but they didn’t stay harshly bright either. Overhead fluorescents were often dimmed or turned off during the night, replaced by the soft glow of monitors and low-level lighting that kept the space functional without overwhelming it. Even in the quietest hours, the room felt gently lit—enough for nurses to work but muted to give patients a chance at rest. Machines beeped in quiet, persistent rhythms, and nurses moved from room to room like shadows on well-worn paths.