Page 62 of Crow's Haven
Siege straightens, his voice low. “We’ll assemble a formal strategy session tomorrow. Tonight, we’ll gather more data. Smoke, you’re our club’s attorney. I want you to take point on this.”
He nods. “I’ll flag posts that reference IV-related lawsuits or regulatory filings. Maybe there’s a FOIA record I can request.”
Siege responds, “Keep us in the loop. If you need anything, just let us know, and we’ll get it for you.”
Turning to me, Siege continues, “Sharon, I want you to revisit those nursing sites. Flag anything you see in those forum posts that seems like it might be related and forward it to Zen.”
The club’s IT specialist shoots me a happy look. “I’ll give everything you send me a once-over for anomalies in the text patterns and timestamps.”
Everything is happening so fast. It’s hard to believe that now I have a team working on my case.
Siege slaps Crow on the arm. “I want you to stay close to your old lady and make sure she’s safe. If anyone figures out that she’s here, we may have to move swiftly to relocate her.”
Crow wraps his arms around me from behind. “Don’t worry Prez. I wasn’t gonna let her outta my sight.”
I rest my head lightly on his shoulder, the knot in my chest loosening. Here in this room, among these brothers, this is my last and best hope of finally seeing justice done. I’ve given them my story. Now they’re giving me the kind of earnest help I’ve desperately needed all along.
Smoke tucks his pen into his shirt pocket. “I’ll contact a retired medical examiner for consultation. One who won’t be intimidated by big hospital lawyers.”
Siege stands. “Then we adjourn for the evening. Tomorrow, we will reconvene here with everything we uncover. We’ll trace every step of this kid’s care. We’ll figure out how the fuck this kid died and who’s responsible.”
I’m incredibly grateful for their help. Crow drapes his arm around my shoulders as we head for the door. As we step into the glow of the fluorescent lighting in the hallway, I feel the knot in my stomach begin to unravel. We have a plan, a timeline, anda team willing to fight for the truth. The darkness that drove me away is slowly fading away.
Chapter 20
Crow
It’s early and I left Sharon sleeping in a while longer. She was up late scouring nursing forums and message boards. I’ll wait until everyone has shown up for the meeting before waking her.
Siege and I are hovering over Zen’s shoulder, buzzing with anticipation while he works his magic on the hospital’s executive email system. Ain’t no telling what kind of dirty-ass secrets are hiding in there.
Zen exhales and taps the screen. “I’m in,” he says, voice low. “The CEO’s email is chock-full of emails about this kid’s death. He’s talking with the Nursing Director, the physicians, and members of the hospital’s board of directors.”
The rest of us go quiet, eager for the first glimpse into the CEO’s emails.
He scrolls quickly, eyes tracking lines of text. Then he pauses and swipes upward. “Here’s some pretty damning evidence,” he murmurs.
I lean forward.
Zen continues, “The timestamp is from two days after Joshua died.”
My breath catches when he reads the subject line:Incident Response: Pediatric Critical Care.
Zen reads aloud, “Cynthia, I received preliminary reports about the patient code in bed four. IT has confirmed that system logs are intact. No apparent documentation errors. Legal recommends we proceed with caution to minimize liability.”
Zen continues. “The hospital DON replies,” he says, “I agree, Kenneth. Why subject ourselves to litigation if we can just let this slide? We can attribute the code to protocol deviations by the nurse who handled the infusion. It will save us public scrutiny and legal fees.”
A cold fucking rage creeps down my spine. That’s proof right there that these bastards are setting my old lady up. I’d rip this world apart for Sharon. And these motherfuckers just made the top of my shit list.
Zen continues scrolling. Another message appears; this one from the CEO to the Director of Nursing. “Potential scandal. Market share could suffer if families lose confidence in our services. Nurse Carlin should accept responsibility. Ensure the paperwork backs this narrative.”
They made a fucking business decision to throw my woman under the damn bus. A kid’s life and Sharon’s career meant nothing to the corporate assholes.
Smoke’s voice drifts from the doorway as he strolls into the room. “We need to see the Director of Nursing’s reply,” he says. “Confirmation that they agreed to this cover-up.”
Zen’s fingers dart across the keyboard again. Moments later, another line appears: “Understood. Legal to draft statement. I will file the police report accordingly. Let’s meet Friday at noon to finalize messaging.”
Siege punches his palm with his fist. “They planned a press release,” he says. “They scheduled it for Friday, because all the really bad shit in offices goes down on Fridays.”
