Chapter 4 - THE FALSE NURSE
St. Catherine’s locked down the trauma floor.
Serena reached Victoria’s room before security understood the threat.
She carried a medication tray and wore a stolen identification badge.
A nurse named Julia Adams noticed Serena had placed the badge backward.
Hospital staff were required to keep photographs visible.
Julia challenged her.
Serena dropped the tray and ran toward the service stairs.
Two officers stopped her on the third floor.
Inside the tray, investigators found a syringe containing enough potassium chloride to stop Victoria’s heart.
Serena claimed she found it in the hallway.
Security footage showed her filling it inside a supply room.
She was arrested for attempted murder.
Gabriel entered Victoria’s room ten minutes later.
She remained unconscious.
Machines measured every breath and heartbeat.
He sat beside her and held the hand without the IV.
“I should have come sooner.”
Mia slept on a couch in the protected waiting area.
Elena sat beside her.
Detective Morales placed Serena’s phone on the bedside table.
The final outgoing message had been sent to Michael’s attorney.
SHE IS STILL ALIVE.
USE THE CHILD.
Gabriel looked toward the waiting room.
“What can they do with Mia?”
Morales opened the custody petition from the blue room.
Michael had arranged for an emergency family-court hearing that morning.
The filing claimed Victoria attacked him during a mental breakdown.
It stated Mia witnessed her mother’s violence.
If Victoria remained unconscious, Michael could request temporary custody.
His attorney argued that incarceration did not automatically remove parental rights before conviction.
Michael wanted Mia placed with his mother, Patricia Cross.
Patricia had publicly supported Victoria for years.
Privately, Elena said she called Victoria unfit and weak.
The hearing was scheduled for nine.
Gabriel contacted his family attorney.
At eight-forty, he entered the courthouse with Mia beside him.
She wore a navy dress provided by a hospital volunteer.
The silver star remained around her neck.
Michael appeared through a jail video connection.
Patricia sat beside his attorney.
She looked toward Mia and smiled.
“Come to Grandma.”
Mia moved closer to Gabriel.
The judge asked whether the child had directly witnessed the incident.
Michael’s attorney answered first.
“Mia was confused by a domestic accident.”
Gabriel placed the pendant’s encrypted audio file on the evidence table.
May you like
“No.”
“She recorded a planned attempted murder.”
