Chapter 2

The family followed Vanessa's gaze.

"That's Dr. Reed?"

Over a dozen pairs of eyes locked onto me. The sheer rage and scrutiny were enough to pin me to the chair.

I had a heavy splint on my right leg. Dried blood crusted my temple. My dress shirt was torn and wrinkled.

I looked absolutely nothing like a man who had just scrubbed in for a high-risk neurosurgery.

Vanessa's mouth opened, but no sound came out.

Tyler's eyes darted around the hallway. Then, he raised his voice, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Ethan! You faked a car crash to dodge responsibility? Are you kidding me?!"

I just looked at him.

The family took the bait instantly.

"He almost played us!"

"You murderer! Stop acting!"

Several of them lunged. The mob mentality took over. My wheelchair jerked violently as someone slammed into it.

A man tried to reach over a nurse to grab my collar. A woman swung her purse, clipping my splinted leg.

I ground my teeth, but a muffled groan still escaped me.

Mia Parker, a young ER nurse, threw herself in front of my chair.

"Back off! Dr. Reed is genuinely injured!"

An elbow flew through the chaos and smashed into Mia's face.

Blood instantly poured from her nose.

Heavy boots pounded down the corridor as hospital security rushed the crowd.

Vanessa finally snapped out of her shock and ran forward. "Stop! Please, everyone, calm down!"

Watching her perform made me sick.

"Step back!" Nora's voice cut through the noise.

She shoved through the crowd, flanked by two Chicago Police Department traffic officers and more hospital security.

When Nora saw my leg and Mia's bloody face, her expression turned lethal.

"Everyone back away. This is a hospital, not the street."

The officers and security guards quickly formed a barricade.

I slumped back in the wheelchair. My lip was split, and there were shoe prints on the outside of my splint. My leg throbbed like it had been broken all over again.

Nora crouched down to check if the splint had shifted, her eyes red-rimmed. "Ethan, are you okay?"

I shook my head. The humiliation was thick in my throat, choking off my words.

One of the CPD officers looked down at me. "You the registered owner of the vehicle from the single-car collision at West Madison and North Halsted this morning?"

I nodded.

The family froze.

"What collision? He actually crashed?"

Officer Marcus Cole pulled out his tablet, bringing up the accident report, intersection traffic footage, and scene photos. He turned the screen toward the crowd.

"The crash occurred at 10:11 AM," Officer Cole stated flatly. "Scene photos, the collision report, and traffic cams all confirm Dr. Reed was inside the vehicle and sustained injuries at that time."

On the screen, my car was embedded in the landscaping barrier, the airbag fully deployed.

Officer Cole looked back at me. "Dr. Reed, the police can verify the time of the accident, but your hospital treatment records fall under HIPAA. Do you consent to the hospital releasing a timeline of your care?"

"I consent," I said.

Nora immediately called the Privacy Office.

Minutes later, the HIPAA Privacy Officer arrived with a written authorization form and a time-stamped log. She handed the file directly to Dr. Richard Hale, the Chief Medical Officer, who had just stepped off the elevator.

Dr. Hale reviewed the document, his face unreadable, then turned to the family.

"With Dr. Reed's authorization, I am disclosing the following timeline: He entered the emergency department at 10:25 AM. He completed a CT scan at 10:47 AM, and his leg was splinted at 11:05 AM. During this entire window, he was physically present in the emergency treatment area."

The corridor went dead silent.

Laura Hayes, Michael's widow, lost all the color in her face.

She looked at the police footage, then at me, her lips trembling. "Then... you didn't do the surgery?"

I looked up, my voice hoarse. "I never even made it through the doors of the surgical suite."

Nora stood up, her tone leaving zero room for debate. "Dr. Reed was in the Neuro ER the entire time following his accident. From imaging to neurovascular assessment to splinting, his electronic medical records are fully documented. I was his attending. I can testify to it."

The family whipped their heads toward Vanessa.

Laura's eyes were bloodshot, and this time, it wasn't just from grief.

"Vanessa. You just said he made a surgical error. Look at him. How could he have operated?"

Vanessa's hands balled into fists inside her lab coat pockets. She forced her features to maintain a look of profound sorrow.

Before she could speak, Tyler shoved his way to the front, holding up a printed document.

"Who says he wasn't involved?" Tyler's voice was shrill and desperate.

"The Electronic Operative Report lists Ethan Reed as the attending surgeon of record. His signature is right here!"