Chapter 2 - The Man Behind The Blood-Stained Name
The injured man opened his eyes and grabbed Clara's hand.
"Don't let Arthur touch the files."
Clara froze beside the trauma bed.
She had expected pain.
She had expected confusion.
She had expected the man to ask where he was.
She never expected him to know the surgeon's name.
Especially when nobody had introduced them.
The patient's fingers loosened around hers, but his eyes remained fixed on her face.
"Who are you?" Clara whispered.
The man stared at her for several seconds.
Like he was trying to decide whether she was someone he could trust.
Then he looked toward the corner of the room.
Toward Dr. Arthur Hemlock.
The chief surgeon was standing near the medication cabinet, pretending to review the patient's chart.
But Clara noticed something.
Arthur wasn't looking at the chart.
He was watching them.
The injured man's eyes narrowed.
"Clara Jenkins."
Hearing her name from a stranger sent a chill through her body.
"How do you know my name?"
The man didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked down at the broken badge still sitting in her hand.
The same badge that had her name scratched into the back.
The same badge that somehow appeared beside him.
The same badge that made no sense.
"I've been looking for you," he finally said.
Clara stepped back.
"Why?"
Before he could respond, the trauma room doors opened.
Two security officers rushed inside.
Behind them stood a group of men wearing expensive suits.
They weren't hospital staff.
They didn't look like family members.
They looked like people who were used to controlling every room they entered.
The entire emergency department became silent.
One of the nurses whispered:
"Who are they?"
Nobody answered.
Because everyone already knew something was wrong.
The man on the bed looked at them.
And for the first time since waking up, his calm expression changed.
Not fear.
Recognition.
"You're early," he said.
The tallest man stepped forward.
"We thought we lost you."
Clara looked between them.
"You know each other?"
The man on the bed slowly sat higher against the pillow despite the pain.
The movement caused several nurses to rush forward.
"Sir, you shouldn't move."
He ignored them.
His eyes stayed on Clara.
"My name is Luca Moretti."
The name meant nothing to her.
But everyone else reacted.
A nurse dropped a tray.
A doctor stopped walking.
Someone near the doorway quietly stepped away.
Clara looked around.
"What?"
Nobody answered.
Then one of the nurses leaned closer.
"Clara..."
Her voice was barely a whisper.
"That's Luca Moretti."
Clara waited.
The nurse looked terrified.
"The man everyone says owns half the city."
Clara stared at the injured patient.
The quiet man she had been treating.
The man who had been lying helpless on a hospital bed.
Suddenly, the room felt different.
He wasn't just another victim.
He wasn't just another patient.
He was someone powerful.
Someone dangerous.
But what confused Clara more was one thing.
He had watched Arthur hurt her.
And instead of ignoring it...
He had remembered.
Dr. Arthur Hemlock suddenly cleared his throat.
"Mr. Moretti, you're still unstable. This conversation can wait."
Luca slowly turned his head.
The entire room felt colder.
"Can it?"
Arthur forced a smile.
"Of course."
Luca looked at Clara.
Then at Arthur.
"I heard everything."
The surgeon's expression changed.
Only for a second.
But Clara saw it.
Fear.
Real fear.
Arthur quickly recovered.
"I think the medication is affecting your memory."
Luca smiled slightly.
It wasn't a friendly smile.
It was the kind of smile that made people nervous.
"Interesting."
He looked toward Clara.
"Because I remember a doctor putting his hands on a nurse."
Nobody spoke.
Arthur stepped forward.
"That is an internal hospital matter."
"No."
Luca's voice was calm.
"That became my matter when it happened in front of me."
Clara didn't know what to say.
She had spent years being ignored.
She had spent years accepting apologies from people who never changed.
And now the most intimidating person in the room was defending her.
It felt unreal.
Arthur looked at Clara.
"This is ridiculous."
Then he turned toward Luca.
"She is only a nurse."
The words hit harder than Clara expected.
Not because she hadn't heard them before.
Because she was tired of hearing them.
Luca noticed her expression.
And something changed in his eyes.
"Only?"
The single word carried more weight than shouting.
Arthur hesitated.
Luca continued.
"She was the only person in this room who kept working while everyone else watched."
The nurses looked down.
Because they knew he was right.
They had seen it.
They just hadn't acted.
Luca looked back at Clara.
"How long has he treated you this way?"
Clara opened her mouth.
Nothing came out.
She didn't want trouble.
She didn't want attention.
She didn't want her job threatened.
That was always the problem.
People like Arthur survived because people like her stayed quiet.
"Clara."
Luca's voice softened.
Not weak.
Just different.
"Tell me the truth."
She looked at Arthur.
The surgeon stared back.
A warning.
A threat.
A reminder.
But for the first time, Clara didn't look away.
"More than once."
The room went silent.
Arthur's face changed.
"You should be careful what you accuse people of."
Clara felt her hands shake.
But she continued.
"He humiliates staff when they disagree with him."
Nobody spoke.
"He's done worse."
Arthur laughed.
A nervous laugh.
"This is absurd."
Then he reached for the patient's chart.
"I need to review his condition."
Luca's hand moved quickly.
He grabbed the chart before Arthur could touch it.
The movement surprised everyone.
Even the doctors.
Because a man who had been bleeding minutes earlier moved with incredible control.
Luca opened the folder.
His eyes scanned the pages.
Then stopped.
Something was wrong.
Clara noticed immediately.
"What is it?"
He didn't answer.
He looked at the medication records.
Then at the signatures.
Then at Arthur.
"You changed my treatment."
Arthur's expression remained calm.
"That is a serious accusation."
Luca turned another page.
"Your signature is here."
Arthur stepped closer.
"Because I'm the chief surgeon."
"No."
Luca looked up.
"Because you wanted access to my records."
The room went quiet.
Clara looked confused.
"Why would he want your records?"
Luca closed the file.
Then he looked at the broken badge in Clara's hand.
"The same reason someone left this for me."
He reached out.
Clara slowly handed him the badge.
Luca turned it over.
His expression changed when he saw the scratches.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
"You weren't supposed to find this."
Clara frowned.
"Find what?"
Before Luca could answer, every monitor in the room suddenly went dark.
The lights flickered.
The emergency room fell into darkness for three seconds.
Then the backup lights turned on.
Everyone looked around.
A nurse checked the system.
"The cameras are offline."
Luca immediately looked toward the door.
His security team moved closer.
Something had changed.
Someone had planned this.
Clara heard a sound from the hallway.
A phone vibrating.
Not hers.
Not Luca's.
Arthur's.
The surgeon slowly reached into his pocket.
He looked at the screen.
And for the first time...
Clara saw him panic.
He read the message.
Then quickly locked the phone.
But it was too late.
Luca had already seen the name appearing on the screen.
"Clara Jenkins."
The surgeon's phone received another message.
And this time, Luca saw the entire sentence.
"She knows too much. Finish it tonight."
The trauma room door slowly opened from the outside.
Someone stepped inside.
May you like
And Arthur whispered one name:
"She's here..."
