Part 13
“I want the attorney on the call first.”
“Why?”
“Because Lucy’s medical privacy is involved. Because the account belongs to the foundation. Because the pharmacy and care agency will protect themselves. Because if we provide partial information, the first report may define the investigation.”
“You’re thinking about liability.”
“I am thinking about proof.”
“You’re thinking about the foundation.”
“I am thinking about my granddaughter.”
“Then why did Paula leave?”
Evelyn’s jaw tightened.
“I don’t know.”
“Why did you hire her?”
“Because Gwen was overwhelmed. Because the hospital discharge happened two days earlier than expected. Because you refused to leave Lucy’s room to make decisions. Because someone had to coordinate twelve people and four vendors while you sat upstairs hating anyone who asked you a question.”
Daniel felt the old battle lines appear.
“You could have asked me.”
“I did.”
“No. You told me what you had done.”
“I asked whether you wanted to review the care plan. You said, ‘Handle it.’”
He remembered.
He had been standing outside the hospital pharmacy while Lucy slept upstairs. Amelia’s old voicemail had surfaced on his phone after a software update, and for half an hour he had been unable to listen to anything else.
Handle it, he had said.
Two words.
He had handed over an entire system and then resented its existence.
That did not make the vial less dangerous.
It made the blame harder to distribute.
“What did Paula have access to?” he asked.
Evelyn looked at Corinne.
“Scheduling, vendor contacts, delivery confirmations, expense approvals,” Corinne said. “I’m trying to see whether she had inherited broader permissions from her prior foundation role.”
“What prior role?”
Evelyn answered. “She coordinated our mobile health screenings.”
“Medical screenings?”
“Logistics. Registration. Vendors.”
“Portal access?”
“Not this portal.”
“But she knew the foundation systems.”
“Yes.”
“Did she know your account structure?”
“Possibly.”
Daniel paced once across the sitting room, then back.
“Why would she target Lucy?”
“No one said she did,” Evelyn replied.
“She left twenty minutes before we found the false order.”
“She had an appointment.”
“She isn’t answering.”
“She may be driving.”
“She may be running.”
Mara spoke from near the refrigerator.
“Or she may have nothing to do with it.”
Daniel turned toward her.
She held his gaze.
“You think I’m doing it again,” he said.
“I think the facts should lead the accusation, not follow it.”
“You were the facts ten minutes ago.”
“Yes.”
The answer stopped him.
Mara continued, “And you were wrong about me.”
“We don’t know that yet.”
The hurt returned to her face.
“You’re right,” she said. “We don’t.”
She set the unused water bottle on the desk.
Daniel wanted to take back the sentence.
His pride made him wait too long.
Corinne broke the silence.
“I found Paula’s permissions.”
Everyone moved closer.
On the tablet screen, a list of roles appeared beside names and timestamps. Paula Stern had been assigned scheduling access, vendor access, delivery management, and temporary administrative support.
“Temporary administrative support,” Daniel read. “What does that include?”
Corinne opened the details.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
“She could approve expenses.”
“We knew that.”
“She could also create vendor service requests.”
“Could that include pharmacy deliveries?”
“Yes.”
“Could she change a prescription?”
“No. Not directly.”
“What does directly mean?”
“She could submit a request associated with an existing clinical order. She could not create the clinical order itself.”
Mara stepped closer. “Unless the integration accepted the service request as an order.”
Corinne looked at her.
“Could it?” Daniel asked.
“Not by design.”
“Forget design. Could it?”
Corinne studied the screen. “If fields were mapped incorrectly, a vendor request might populate parts of an order. But it would not generate a physician note or clinical rationale.”
“Someone had to add those.”
“Yes.”
“Could Paula?”
“Not under her assigned permissions.”
Daniel looked at Evelyn. “Who assigned them?”
“My office.”
“Who specifically?”
“Gwen.”
“Under whose account?”
Evelyn did not answer.
Corinne scrolled.
“Evelyn’s.”
Daniel gave a hollow laugh.
“Of course.”
Evelyn’s voice sharpened. “Administrative assistants routinely perform authorized tasks under delegated access.”
“Then your password manager isn’t the point.”
“No.”
“Your name is.”
Evelyn looked toward the bedroom again.
Lucy had begun to stir. Mara immediately moved through the connecting door.
Daniel followed.
The girl’s face was pinched with discomfort. Her breathing remained steady, but she pressed one hand against her lower ribs.
“Pain?” Mara asked.
Lucy nodded.
“Same place as before?”
Another nod.
Daniel leaned over her. “How bad?”
Lucy considered. “Six.”
She used the hospital scale without explanation. Six meant the pain was no longer something she could ignore.
Mara checked the time. “She needs the alternative dose.”
“Is it safe?” Daniel asked.
“Yes, if Dr. Mendoza confirms the substitution.”
“Has she?”
Corinne entered behind them, black tablet raised. “She’s calling now.”
The secure call appeared. Dr. Elena Mendoza spoke from what looked like a hospital corridor. She verified Lucy’s symptoms, reviewed the valid orders, and authorized a single dose from the sealed unit medication stored in the refrigerator.
Mara did not move toward it.
Daniel realized she was waiting for him.
“Prepare it,” he said.
Her eyes searched his face.
“Are you sure?”
“No,” he said. “But prepare it.”
Mara washed her hands in the adjoining bathroom while Corinne read the order aloud. Grant opened the refrigerator under observation. The medication came in a sealed single-use container with printed dosing information. Corinne photographed it. Mara checked the label, handed it to Corinne to check, then asked Daniel to read Lucy’s name and birth date.
He did.
The procedure felt painfully slow.
That was the point.
Mara administered the medicine while Daniel held Lucy’s hand. The girl swallowed, grimaced at the taste, and whispered that it was worse than bananas.
Daniel almost laughed.
Mara offered a sip of water. Lucy accepted it from her.
May you like
Within ten minutes, the tension in the child’s face eased. Her breathing deepened. She kept hold of Daniel’s fingers and let Mara adjust the cream blanket around her.
The white rabbit remained beneath her other arm.
