Chapter 8: The Woman in the White Coat
Chapter 8: The Woman in the White Coat
Mercy General Hospital was unusually quiet just after sunrise.
Nurses moved through the halls, changing IV bags and checking patient charts.
Visitors trickled into waiting rooms with cups of coffee in their hands.
Everything appeared normal.
Too normal.
On the fourth floor, Ava had finally fallen asleep after the terrifying events of the previous night.
Ethan sat beside her bed, refusing to leave.
His phone rang.
It was Detective Brooks.
"Ethan."
"We're on our way."
"What happened?"
"My mother disappeared."
Ethan's blood ran cold.
"What?"
"We found her room empty."
Brooks' voice became urgent.
"Until we arrive, don't let anyone into Ava's room."
"I won't."
"Not even hospital staff?"
"Especially if you don't recognize them."
The call ended.
Ethan immediately locked the hospital room door.
Ava stirred awake.
"What's wrong?"
"My mother is missing."
The color drained from Ava's face.
Three floors below...
A woman wearing blue medical scrubs walked confidently through the employee entrance.
A surgical mask covered most of her face.
A hospital ID badge hung around her neck.
She nodded politely to the receptionist.
No one questioned her.
She knew exactly where she was going.
Inside her pocket rested a syringe.
Unlike the one used against Victor...
This one contained a powerful sedative.
Enough to leave someone unconscious for hours.
Meanwhile...
Detective Brooks and Ramirez sped toward the hospital.
Dispatch suddenly interrupted over the radio.
"Detective."
"Go ahead."
"We traced Margaret Carter's phone."
"Where is she?"
"It pinged near Mercy General twenty-three minutes ago."
Brooks slammed his hand against the dashboard.
"Step on it."
The police SUV surged through morning traffic.
Inside Ava's room...
Ethan poured her a glass of water.
"You should try to rest."
"I can't."
She looked toward the window.
"I keep thinking she's coming."
Before Ethan could answer—
Someone knocked softly.
"Housekeeping."
Neither of them moved.
Another knock.
"Fresh linens."
Ethan frowned.
"We don't need anything."
Silence.
Then the voice came again.
"Doctor's orders."
Ava's breathing quickened.
"Don't open it."
Ethan slowly approached the door.
He looked through the small observation window.
A woman stood outside in hospital scrubs.
Face mask.
Hair covered.
Nothing seemed unusual.
Still...
Something felt wrong.
He kept the door locked.
"Can I see your ID?"
The woman hesitated.
Only for a second.
Then she held up a badge.
It was impossible to read through the glass.
"I'm sorry," Ethan said.
"I'll call the nurse's station first."
The woman lowered her hand.
Without another word...
She turned and walked away.
She didn't go far.
At the end of the hallway, she slipped into an empty supply closet.
Slowly...
She removed the surgical mask.
Margaret Carter stared at her reflection in a small mirror.
Her expression was cold.
"They're learning," she whispered.
She reached into her pocket and pulled out another hospital ID badge.
A different name.
A different department.
She smiled.
"There are always other doors."
Back inside the room...
Ava's heart refused to slow down.
"That was her."
Ethan looked at her.
"You couldn't see her face."
"I know her."
"I felt it."
He took her hand.
"I won't let her near you."
Just then, Lena rushed into the room, breathless.
"I came as soon as I heard."
Ethan hugged her briefly.
"You shouldn't have come alone."
"I wasn't going to leave Ava."
Ava smiled weakly.
"Thank you."
Lena hesitated.
"There’s something I never told either of you."
Both looked at her.
"The night before the accident..."
"I saw Margaret arguing with someone."
"Who?"
"Victor."
"They were outside the garage."
Ethan's eyes widened.
"What were they saying?"
"I couldn't hear everything."
"But Victor kept repeating..."
"'This has gone too far.'"
"And Margaret?"
Lena closed her eyes.
"She told him..."
"'Tomorrow changes everything.'"
At that moment, Detective Brooks arrived at the hospital.
Police officers quickly secured every entrance.
"No one leaves without identification," Brooks ordered.
Ramirez headed straight to the security office.
"We need every surveillance camera."
The head of hospital security immediately pulled up the recordings.
Multiple screens filled the wall.
Doctors.
Patients.
Visitors.
Then—
Ramirez froze one image.
"There."
A woman in blue scrubs entered through the employee entrance.
She zoomed in.
The ID badge looked authentic.
But something else caught her attention.
The woman wore expensive leather heels.
Not hospital shoes.
Ramirez frowned.
"Play it."
The footage followed the woman through several hallways.
She deliberately avoided crowded areas.
Never spoke to anyone.
Then she disappeared into a stairwell.
The next camera caught her again.
Without her mask.
Ramirez's eyes widened.
"Detective."
Brooks hurried over.
The image froze on the screen.
There was no doubt.
Margaret Carter.
Brooks grabbed his radio.
"All units."
"Suspect confirmed inside the hospital."
"Lock down every floor."
"No one enters or exits."
Officers spread through the building.
Patients were quietly moved into secure rooms.
Elevators were shut down.
Only the stairwells remained accessible.
Margaret watched the police activity from a second-floor corridor.
She smiled calmly.
"They're searching the wrong floor."
She stepped through an unmarked maintenance door.
Behind it was a narrow service staircase rarely used by visitors.
She climbed silently toward the fourth floor.
Back inside Ava's room...
Ethan stood near the door while Lena remained beside Ava's bed.
None of them noticed the faint clicking sound above the ceiling.
Inside the ventilation space...
Someone slowly removed a metal grate.
A gloved hand appeared.
Then another.
Margaret carefully lowered herself into the dark utility area above the hospital rooms.
She had memorized the building's maintenance plans years earlier while serving on the hospital's board of directors.
She knew exactly where Ava's room was.
She crawled silently through the narrow passage.
Only a few feet remained.
She stopped above Room 417.
Below her...
Ava looked up suddenly.
"Did you hear that?"
Ethan listened.
Nothing.
Then—
A tiny piece of white ceiling dust drifted onto the hospital blanket.
Lena noticed it first.
She slowly raised her eyes toward the ceiling.
Her expression changed instantly.
"Ethan..."
"What?"
She pointed upward.
A second piece of dust floated down.
Then...
A faint metallic creak echoed overhead.
May you like
Someone...
Was directly above them.
