Chapter 5 - Shadows in CiceroWhile Clara was learning the language of trauma inside the fortress of the Vale estate, miles away in Cicero, the danger was closing in.
Tyler Reed lay propped up in bed at St. Jude’s Memorial Hospital, staring blankly at the heart monitor as it beeped in a steady, monotonous rhythm. The room smelled of antiseptic and cheap bleach.
A shadow fell across the doorway.
A tall man in a charcoal suit stepped inside, his face half-shadowed by the brim of a fedora. He didn't look like a doctor. He walked with the precise, silent tread of a hunter.
"Are you Tyler Reed?" the man asked, his voice low and gravelly.
The sixteen-year-old boy blinked sleepily, turning his head. "Yeah? Who are you? Where's my mom?"
"Your mother is downstairs talking to billing," the man replied smoothly, stepping closer to the bed. He reached into his coat pocket, not for a medical chart, but for a sleek, metallic device. "I'm a representative of Mr. Dominic Vale. We're here to process your surgery funds."
Tyler’s eyes lit up with sudden, naive hope. "Really? My sister... Clara said Mr. Vale was a bad guy, but—"
"Your sister works for very dangerous people, kid," the man interrupted softly, pressing a small, adhesive patch onto the IV line connected to Tyler’s arm.
Within three seconds, the steady beeping of the heart monitor began to stutter. Tyler’s eyes widened in sudden, silent panic as his breath caught in his throat. He tried to cry out, but his vocal cords refused to cooperate.
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The man leaned down, whispering in the boy's ear. "Tell your sister to stop digging into the Vale family history. Or the next heart that stops won't be yours."
By the time Clara’s mother walked back into the hospital room carrying a cup of stale cafeteria coffee, the bed was empty of visitors, and Tyler was fighting for every breath, his monitor screaming a frantic, blaring red alarm.
