"Elodie, I've arranged for a complete neurological workup at Coastfields Medical Center. The appointment is scheduled for 3 PM today. Lydia will arrange a car. The address is below. Don't be late. Knox."
No personal message.
Just clinical instructions delivered like a business memo.
'That's what I am now,' I thought bitterly. 'A medical case to be managed.'
But then I noticed the address at the bottom of the note.
'That's where Coastfield Children General Hospital used to coordinate referrals!'
An idea sparked. It's dangerous and stupid. But I couldn't let it go.
I had time before the 3 PM appointment. And CCGH was only a fifteen-minute drive from here. I could go there first.
Maybe I can find clues at the hospital.
Maybe my phone's still there.
At 2 pm, I was in the back of a black Mercedes, dressed in one of Elodie's understated designer outfits.
As we drove through the traffic, I stared out the window, expecting to see familiar landmarks.
The jeepney routes I'd memorized during residency.
The shortcuts through side streets saved precious minutes when racing back to the hospital.
But something felt… off.
That corner store where I used to buy coffee - it was gone. Replaced by a modern convenience store chain I didn't recognize.
When did that happen? I wondered. I was only gone for - what, a week? Maybe two?
Maybe they were already planning these renovations before I… before the shooting.
Maybe I just never noticed.
I'd been so focused on my work that I'd stopped paying attention to anything else.
I hadn't noticed the city changing around me.
The car slowed as we approached CCGH. The familiar brick facade came into view, and something cracked open in my chest.
"Park near the emergency entrance," I instructed.
"Shall I accompany you?"
"No." Too sharp. I softened my tone. "No, thank you. I'll only be thirty minutes. Please wait here."
I stepped out before he could argue. My heels clicked against the asphalt that I had crossed a thousand times before.
In scrubs and sneakers.
The automatic doors slid open with a familiar whoosh.
Antiseptic.
Coffee.
Home.
I stood in the lobby, drinking in every detail. The information desk was on the left. The orange chair in the waiting area. The pastoral painting on the far wall, slightly crooked because it had been that way for as long as I could remember, and no one ever fixed it.
Everything was the same.
Relief flooded through me so intensely that my knees weakened.
Whatever had happened after I died, at least this place remained.
Still home.
I thought I'd never step foot in here again.
The thought came unbidden. I have to blink rapidly against the sudden burning in my eyes.
I couldn't cry.
Elodie wouldn't cry walking into a hospital.
I navigated through familiar corridors, my feet taking me to the place where I died.
And there, at the end of the left wing, was the door to Dr. Hemlock's old office.
Except it wasn't a door anymore.
The entire section was burned.
My hand went to my mouth, choking a sob.
"Ma'am? You can't be back here."
A maintenance worker approached, carrying a clipboard.
"What happened here?" I managed to ask.
"Fire." He gestured at the damage. "The storage wing was declared unsafe, so they never reopened it."
"Storage wing?" I repeated. My pulse picked up.
'So it's really not Hemlock's office.'
He nodded. "Old research files, mostly. We lost a lot of paper data that day. The digital backup system wasn't fully online yet."
"What caused it?"
He shrugged. "Faulty wiring, according to the report. The fire department ruled it accidental."
Accidental.
Of course, they would say that.
Gut it. Destroy all evidence.
Make sure nothing survived.
"Ma'am, you really need to step back. Structural integrity's compromised. The whole section could collapse."
I nodded numbly and let him guide me away.
I was hoping that my phone would somehow still be here.
It skittered under the cabinets when I fell from the shooting.
But my hopes turned to ashes.
My evidence - my samples, my signed reports - everything I'd risked for months to collect was gone.
The only copy left was the encrypted drive I'd hidden… somewhere even I might not be able to reach now.
Whatever I'd died trying to preserve - whatever Yuna Bane had documented - was destroyed.
HelCure thought they'd won and silenced me.
But I have something Yuna didn't.
Access to Knox's facilities.
And I would use every advantage I had to bring them down.
I looked at my watch.
Thirty minutes have passed.
I walked back through the corridors, but now I have a new purpose.
'I'll come back,' I promised silently. 'When this is over, when Helcure is destroyed, I'll find a way for them to grieve me properly.'
The automatic doors slid open, and I stepped into the sunlight.
The driver was waiting by the car, his expression professionally neutral.
"Did you find what you needed, Mrs. Humphries?"
'No. But I found out that Helcure is even more dangerous than I thought. That they'll burn buildings and cover up murders and pay off entire institutions to protect their crimes.'
"Yes," I said. "We can go to the Coastfields Medical Center now."