The Heiress They Left To Die Chapter 05
The color drained slowly from Dr. Carter’s face.
Richard and Margaret both turned to look at Josie.
Ethan’s expression changed in a heartbeat.
He lunged forward, snatched the phone out of my hand, and stared at the screen, his fingers tightening bit by bit around the edges.
In the video, Josie sat in the passenger seat of my car — chin up, voice clear, arrogant. Nothing like the fragile creature gasping for breath in this bed.
It had been filmed the night before, when she came looking for me in the parking garage. My dashcam had caught every second of it.
Ethan happened to be standing directly under the livestream camera. Every frame on that screen went out to the audience, crystal clear.
The comment section detonated.
That’s Josie?? She looks healthier than I do — she is not dying!
Oh my God, she really was faking, and she offered Dr. Blackwood five million to help her hide it from her own family?? This is insane!
I take back everything I said about Dr. Blackwood…
When the clip ended, the room was dead silent.
Josie’s face cycled through several colors. A second after the audio cut, her eyes were already brimming.
“Dad, Mom, Ethan — please, let me explain…”
She lowered her head, shoulders trembling faintly.
“I did contact Dr. Blackwood privately. But there was a reason.”
“You all know my condition. It can’t be cured. Yesterday Ethan offended Dr. Blackwood because of me — she lost her job because of me — and I felt terrible about it.”
“So I forced myself out of bed to go find her. I wanted her to play along and tell you I just needed rest.”
“That way she wouldn’t ruin her reputation trying to treat something no one can treat. And you wouldn’t have to keep running from doctor to doctor for my sake.”
“I really… I just didn’t want to be a burden to any of you.”
By the last line, she’d lifted her head. Tears rolling down her face.
The suspicion in Ethan’s eyes faded almost as quickly as it had come. He crossed over and steadied her arm, aching and helpless.
“Josie. Why would you do this? We’re your family. I’ll fix this — no matter what it takes.”
Richard and Margaret softened too.
Richard turned a cold look on me.
“Dr. Blackwood. What Josie did was inappropriate, yes. But she was trying to protect you. And you repay her by waving so-called ‘evidence’ around to smear her.”
“If you don’t have even that much professional integrity — or basic decency — the Hawthornes will not tolerate you remaining in medicine.”
I watched the four of them close ranks around Josie again, and it was almost funny.
I was just about to speak when I caught, out of the corner of my eye, Richard giving a small nod to the assistant at the door.
The assistant nodded back and slipped out.
Less than two minutes later, a woman’s wailing broke out in the corridor, getting louder as it approached.
The next second, the door slammed open.
“Ava Blackwood! You killed my son!”
A middle-aged woman came barreling in and seized me by the collar, her voice shrill and hoarse.
“We couldn’t pay your under-the-table fees, so you just threw some pills at him and sent him home! He didn’t make it through the ER last night — you killed him!”
She kept shrieking, yanking at my white coat.
Her fingernails raked across the back of my hand, leaving two red furrows. Beads of blood pushed up almost immediately.
Two hospital security guards trailed in behind her — went through the motions of reaching out once, then stepped back and watched.
Ethan folded his arms. The corner of his mouth twitched.
“Dr. Blackwood. Someone is accusing you of killing a patient. And you still have the nerve to stand there and lecture Josie?”
Josie, leaning into his shoulder, sighed softly.
“Dr. Blackwood. If you’d only admitted your mistake sooner… maybe this woman’s son would still be alive.”
Richard sipped his coffee, as if none of this had anything to do with him.
Margaret turned her head away and wouldn’t look at me.
The livestream chat was one long torrent of venom.
Wait — she killed someone too?!
Bribes, refusing patients, and now malpractice death? Why isn’t this bitch behind bars already??
Yank her license. Sue her. Put her in prison!
I stood where I was. The woman had drawn blood on my arm, but I wasn’t rattled.
I just lifted my eyes and looked at Richard.
Then the door opened again.
Two rows of security in black suits walked in. They moved fast — two of them peeled the woman off me by the elbows and pinned her aside.
Every head in the room turned toward the door.
Dr. Arthur Blackwood walked in.
The moment Richard saw him, his face finally changed.
He set the coffee down. Stood up.
“Arthur Blackwood?”