Chapter 4 - The Race to Room 304Detective Vance didn't uncuff me; she uncapped a set of brass keys and unlocked the table ring with a sharp click.
"We don't have a warrant for St. Jude's ICU yet, and if we go through official channels, Marlene’s legal team will stall us until it's too late," Vance said, tossing me my car keys. "My unmarked cruiser is parked in bay four. You're going to drive, but we break every traffic law between here and downtown. You understand?"
"Let's move," I snarled.
We tore out of the precinct parking lot, tires screaming against the asphalt. The digital clock on the dashboard read 4:14 PM. Exactly six hours since the intake stamp on Marlene's note.
My phone buzzed aggressively in my pocket. I hit speakerphone with a trembling thumb while steering around a slow-moving semi with inches to spare.
"Ethan?"
It was Lily. Her voice was shaking so hard she could barely form the syllables.
"Lily! Baby, are you okay? Where are you?"
"I'm... I'm at the neighbor's, Mrs. Gable's house," she cried. "Grandma Marlene just left in her Buick. She said she was going to the hospital to 'pull the plug' because you were arrested and she has legal power of attorney!"
"Power of attorney?" I shouted. "Clara never signed power of attorney over to her!"
"She did," Lily sobbed. "Last month, when Mom was doped up after her minor concussion. Grandma made her sign a stack of papers and told her it was medical consent forms for her knee surgery!"
My vision blurred with hot, furious tears. I slammed my foot harder on the gas pedal, the engine roaring past 90 miles per hour.
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"Hold on, Lily. Tell Mrs. Gable to lock all the doors. I'm coming back for you after I save your mother."
We blew through a red light at Fourth and Elm, Vance flashing her police shield out the passenger window to scatter a cluster of delivery vans. St. Jude Memorial Hospital loomed ahead like a monolith of glass and cold steel.
