The Mafia Boss Collapsed at His Own Wedding and the Woman He Abandoned at the Altar Was the Only Doctor Who Could Save Him

Nia stared at Ethan, her mind instantly calculating the chess moves.

Marcus Vance wasn't just trying to kill Daniel with poison; he was using the legal and administrative system of the city to eliminate Daniel’s medical defense. If Nia was removed from the case and Daniel was transferred to a doctor controlled by Vance’s payroll, a single injection of potassium chloride into his IV line would finish what the digitalis had failed to accomplish.

"Who filed the complaint?" Nia asked, her voice dropping into an icy, focused calm.

"It came through the mayor’s office of medical inquiry," Ethan said. "Directly sponsored by the Vance Legal Group."

Daniel sat up in bed, swinging his legs over the side of the mattress despite the IV lines pulling at his skin. "Nia. Leave now. Go to the parking garage. My driver is waiting in a black SUV on level three."

"Shut up, Daniel," Nia said without looking at him. She turned to Ethan. "Where is Chief Dr. Harrison right now?"

"He just stepped out of the elevator on the fourth floor," Ethan said. "He’ll be here in two minutes."

"Ethan," Nia said, grabbing the junior resident by his collar, pulling him close so only he could hear. "I need you to go to the pharmacy vault right now. Use my override code—eight-four-seven-two—and bring me two pre-filled syringes of atropine and three bags of normal saline. Do not let anyone see you."

Ethan’s eyes widened. "Nia, if Harrison catches me helping you defy an administrative order—"

"If Harrison takes over this patient, Daniel Han will be dead by noon, and this hospital will be dragged into a federal murder trial," Nia snapped. "Do you trust me or not?"

Ethan swallowed hard, looked at Daniel, then looked at Nia. "Eight-four-seven-two. God help us." He turned and sprinted down the hallway.

Nia turned to Daniel. "Can you walk?"

"I can fight," Daniel said, reaching down to rip the cardiac lead stickers off his broad chest.

"I didn't ask if you could fight, I asked if you could walk without collapsing from orthostatic hypotension," Nia said, grabbing a pair of medical scrubs from the supply cabinet and tossing them onto his lap. "Put these on over your hospital gown. Now."

Daniel didn't argue. He pulled the blue cotton shirt over his head with practiced efficiency, suppressing a grunt of pain as his core muscles pulled against the IV site on his forearm.

"Dr. Bennett!"

A sharp, booming voice echoed from the end of the ICU hallway.

Dr. Richard Harrison, Chief of Medicine—a tall, grey-haired man with an impeccably tailored coat and an aura of supreme administrative arrogance—was walking rapidly down the corridor. Beside him were two uniformed Chicago police detectives and Julianna Vance, who was pointing a manicured finger toward Room 412.

"Dr. Bennett, step away from the patient immediately!" Harrison commanded as he reached the glass doors. "Your clinical privileges are revoked effective immediately pending a formal review by the ethics committee!"

Nia didn't run. She walked calmly to the door, opened it four inches, and stood in the doorway, blocking their view of the room’s interior.

"Dr. Harrison," Nia said smoothly. "You are entering a high-level biological isolation zone without proper personal protective equipment."

Harrison paused, blinking in confusion. "What nonsense are you talking about? This is a medical intensive care room!"

"The patient presented with symptoms consistent with acute exposure to an unidentified organophosphate neurotoxin," Nia lied seamlessly, her face a mask of solemn professional gravity. "I have just initiated an Emergency Isolation Protocol under Title 4 of the Illinois Public Health Code. Until the CDC clearing team arrives, no one enters or leaves this corridor without full Level 3 HAZMAT gear."

The two police detectives immediately froze, looking at each other nervously.

"You’re lying," Julianna snarled, trying to push past Harrison. "She’s trying to hide him! Detectives, arrest her!"

"Touch me, Detective," Nia said, looking directly at the senior officer, "and you will be placed under mandatory forty-eight-hour biohazard quarantine at the county facility in Stroger. Feel free to check my administrative authority under hospital code Section 9."

The detective stepped back half a pace. "Look, Chief, we just came to answer a call about an unauthorized medical procedure. We aren't equipped for chemical exposure."

"Nia, this is administrative suicide!" Harrison yelled, his face turning dark red. "I am the Chief of Medicine! I command you to stand down!"

"You can fire me tomorrow, Dr. Harrison," Nia said softly. "But today, I am the attending physician responsible for keeping this floor from becoming a biological crime scene."

Behind her, the window facing the west alley gave off a sharp, heavy thud.

Nia didn't turn around. She knew what it was. Dominic Vane’s men had raised an external window-washing platform to the fourth floor exterior wall, cutting through the safety glass from the outside.

"Dr. Bennett!" Harrison yelled, taking a step forward.