Chapter 4

The nurse stared at the paper Patrick was holding out.

Her whole body went rigid.

"Are you insane? She's already unconscious!"

"How is she supposed to press a thumbprint? You're trying to kill her!"

Patrick clicked his tongue, impatient.

"Unconscious? Then use her blood."

"She's bled this much already. One thumbprint won't make a difference."

"I'm a fair man."

"She wants to live, she pays for it with her name."

"She owes me that. She owes Cara that."

Cara took the confession from Patrick's hand.

Step by step, she walked to the door of the ER.

She looked at the nurse, her voice soft enough to drip.

"Nurse, please, just bend the rules a little. Patrick only wants what's best for Winona."

"Winona's stubborn. She won't admit she's wrong unless she suffers for it."

"One thumbprint and Patrick will pay and sign right away."

"You don't want to watch Winona die on that operating table, do you?"

The nurse shoved Cara away, shaking with rage.

"Get away from me! The two of you make me sick!"

"I quit!"

"I'll take responsibility myself and operate on her!"

The nurse rushed into the ER and slammed the door behind her.

On the operating table, the attending physician had already lifted the scalpel.

Moments earlier, the on-duty hospital director had invoked Article 1220 of the Civil Code, the emergency treatment provision.

Bypassing the family's signature, he had stamped the hospital's official administrative seal directly onto the form.

"Save her first! The hospital takes all responsibility!"

The director's words still echoed through the intercom.

I lay on the cold operating table, the surgical lights so bright I couldn't open my eyes.

Everything below my waist had gone numb.

All I could hear was the shrill alarm of the machines ringing in my ears.

The doctor was doing CPR on me.

"Winona! Wake up! Don't sleep! Think about your baby!"

My eyelids were heavy as lead.

The ER door was suddenly kicked open.