Chapter 190

• Third person pov
• The night was eerily quiet, cloaked in shadows and laced with the scent of antiseptic and tension. Inside the dimly lit corridor of the hospital’s west wing, the air had grown heavier. Nurses moved briskly, unaware that something more sinister than a typical emergency was brewing. Two guards stationed near the end of the corridor leaned against the wall, unaware their routine surveillance was about to be rendered useless.
• Vanessa Sloane lay on the hospital bed in a private room, her lower lip split, temple bandaged, and an arm strapped in a sling. The light above her buzzed occasionally, a dull flicker that matched the growing unease gnawing at her gut. Her phone vibrated softly under her blanket. She reached for it with her free hand, her thumb trembling slightly as she accepted the call.