Chapter 10 - THE HOSPITAL BATTLEGROUND
Thirty minutes later, the roof of St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital was buzzing with emergency personnel.
Lily was rushed into the pediatric ICU on a gurney, her face pale but calm, her hand still holding the blue mitten. David, now wearing a clean surgical scrub suit provided by the state troopers, walked alongside her gurney.
In the sterile corridor outside the operating theater, Dr. Aris, the chief of pediatric oncology, was waiting with a team of surgeons.
"Mr. Miller!" Dr. Aris said, rushing forward with a tablet. "We received the emergency judicial clearance from Judge Vance. The state medical board has waived all financial holds. Your preliminary tissue match is 99.8%. We can begin the bone marrow harvesting immediately!"
"Thank you, Doctor," David gasped, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Please, just save her."
"We will," Dr. Aris promised. "Prepare room four for donor prep!"
As the medical team wheeled Lily toward the operating room, a sharp commotion broke out at the end of the hospital corridor.
Three men in expensive designer suits walked past the hospital security checkpoint, flanked by two corporate lawyers carrying leather briefcases. At the center was RICHARD VANCE—David’s eldest uncle, a sixty-year-old billionaire with cold silver hair and a ruthless gaze.
"Stop this procedure immediately!" Richard’s attorney shouted, waving a legal injunction. "We represent the Vance Family Trust and the legal guardianship committee of Lily Vance. Mr. David Miller is an unindicted felon, and his medical consent is legally invalid!"
David stood in front of the operating room doors, his fists clenching so hard his knuckles turned white.
"Richard," David spat out, stepping into his uncle's path.
Richard Vance stopped, looking down his nose at David with pure contempt. "Look at you. Wearing scrubs like you belong here. You were supposed to be rotting in a state cell, David. Just like your mother was supposed to rot in that wheelchair."
"You stole my life," David said, his voice dropping into a deadly, quiet growl. "You paid off the social workers. You hid my identity. You tried to let my daughter die just so you could keep forty percent of the bank!"
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"It was never your money, boy!" Richard sneered, stepping closer. "Your father was weak, and your mother was a broken cripple. The Vance empire belongs to those who know how to hold power. Officers, remove this man from the facility!"
"He isn't going anywhere, Richard."
