Chapter 44

After wrapping up the final post-op notes and handing off the patient to the ICU team, Hazel collected her things from the doctors’ lounge. She moved with practiced ease, white coat off, stethoscope into her bag, ID badge clipped to the strap. But beneath that cool composure, her thoughts lingered on the prisoner, the black car from earlier, and the quiet tension humming under the surface of her otherwise normal workday. As she stepped out through the hospital’s main entrance, the setting sun painted the sky in warm hues of amber and rose. The air was crisp, tinged with the scent of fresh rain on concrete.