Chapter 64 LOST AND SILENCED
Every noise around me began to fade, as if the world itself had been muted. I stared at my bloodstained hands, and a violent shiver ran down my body.
They wheeled her past me—fast, urgent—straight into the emergency room. The doors swung shut, cutting me off completely.
But I didn’t move.
I just sat there on the cold hospital floor, my eyes glued to the blood on my hands… then to the streaks of it staining the tiles beneath me.
Zoe’s words echoed relentlessly in my head.
Dead bodies.
What did they witness?
What did she see?
Is Mia even okay?
What if—
No.
I couldn’t let my mind finish that thought. I just couldn’t.
So I stayed there, frozen, as time rushed past me like wind. Nurses ran. Monitors beeped. Voices rose and fell. But it all sounded distant—like I was underwater.
I didn’t know how long I sat there.
Minutes.
Maybe longer.
I only snapped out of it when the emergency room doors suddenly opened and the doctor from earlier stepped out.
I pushed myself up onto my knees immediately, my heart racing as I approached her.
But the moment I saw her eyes—
I knew.
The guilt in them said everything before she even opened her mouth.
“I’m sorry… but she’s gone.”
Her words felt distant, unreal.
I didn’t respond.
I didn’t scream.
I didn’t cry.
I just walked past her and into the emergency room as she called out behind me.
“Miss Carter, you can’t go in there!”
But I didn’t stop.
I stepped inside and immediately saw Zoe lying there.
Her face was pale—unnaturally pale. Her mouth slightly open, still connected to the oxygen tube. The defibrillator rested beside her, abandoned now. The ECG machine displayed a flat, merciless line.
No rhythm.
No life.
Just silence.
I walked closer, each step heavier than the last. My fingers trembled as I slowly pulled back the sheet covering the rest of her body.
She was just as pale.
Still.
Too still.
My throat tightened painfully as I swallowed hard, then turned to face the doctor.
“What happened to her?” I demanded, my voice low but shaking. “You said she was fine.”
“She was fine,” the doctor replied sharply, her own frustration evident. “I was certain of it. I should be asking you what happened between the time you were with her.”
A bitter laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it.
It wasn’t humor.
It was disbelief.
“Are you insinuating that I did something to her?”
The words came out cold.
Because if they were looking for someone to blame—
They were looking at the wrong person.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” the doctor snapped, her frustration just as evident as mine. “I’m trying to understand what the hell happened to someone who was perfectly fine just minutes ago.”
“I don’t understand it either,” I shot back, my voice cracking despite my effort to stay composed. “She was eager to eat the food I was going to buy. She even told me she was going to pay me back for saving her life. So how did I come back to this… to her—”
My words failed me.
I swallowed the lump forming painfully at the back of my throat.
“I’m sorry, Miss Carter. I truly am,” the doctor said quietly before walking away, leaving me alone with the unbearable weight of it all.
My legs suddenly felt weak—heavier than I could manage. Every step toward the exit felt like I was dragging chains behind me.
I made my way out of the emergency room and out of the hospital entirely, desperate for air.
But even as I stepped outside, the cold morning breeze did nothing to ease the tightness in my chest. It didn’t help.
Nothing did.
I tried to make sense of it. Tried to piece it together. But the more I thought about it, the sharper the headache became, pounding behind my eyes like punishment.
“Hi.”
The sudden voice behind me made me flinch. I turned quickly to find a middle-aged woman standing there, holding the takeout bag I had ordered for Zoe.
“You dropped this,” she said gently, extending it toward me.
“You can have it,” I muttered, letting out a hollow, bitter laugh. “The dead don’t eat, do they?”
She stared at me for a moment—longer than necessary—before stepping closer and gently placing the food into my trembling hands.
“Your friend might be dead,” she said softly, “but you’re still alive.”
Her eyes held a sadness I couldn’t quite place.
I looked down at the bag, but my stomach twisted violently at the thought of eating. I couldn’t swallow anything. Not food. Not grief. Not the truth.
“No… I’ll pass.”
“Then I guess you don’t want to hear what I have to say,” she replied calmly, turning as if to leave.
“Wait!” I called out immediately, panic surging through me. “What do you mean?”
She paused and looked back at me.
“I have a little information for you,” she said carefully. “But I need you to eat something first. You look like you could collapse at any moment. From the look of things, you haven’t had a blink of rest.”
She glanced toward the hospital entrance before adding quietly, “It’s almost 5 a.m.”
I sighed, exhaustion finally crashing into me all at once.
“Just tell me… who are you?” I asked, desperation creeping into my voice. “And what information?”
“I work here,” she replied. “I’m one of the cleaners. And I saw something… something I probably wasn’t meant to see. But I can’t keep it to myself. The guilt will eat me alive.”
My heart began to race again.
“After you left,” she continued in a lower voice, “I saw a nurse go into that patient’s ward. She was acting strange—sneaky. Like she was afraid of being caught.”
Her words twisted something sharp and painful inside my chest.
A nurse.
After I left.
My breathing became uneven.
So they silenced her.
They killed Zoe to keep her from revealing whatever she saw.
The realization hit me like a physical blow. I gasped, the trembling ache in my heart intensifying until it felt unbearable.
This wasn’t random.
This wasn’t medical.
This was murder.
And Zoe had died because she knew something.
“I don’t think she just died. That nurse knows something about it. Make them show you the CCTV footage or request an autopsy. And you need to be careful too,” she said before turning to walk away.
“Wait,” I called after her. “Why did you decide to tell me this? Your life could be in danger if anyone finds out.”
“Then I guess it’s a good thing that today is my last day here,” she replied with a faint smile before walking away.
I watched her get into a taxi before storming back into the hospital.
I went straight to the doctor’s office, but before I could even knock on her door, it was pulled open by another nurse.
“I would like to see the doctor,” I said, my voice leaving no room for excuses.
“I’m sorry, but she’s busy at the moment. You can wait for her downstairs,” the nurse replied casually, as if they hadn’t just lost someone’s life.
“I want to see the doctor right now. Either you move out of the way or you call her out,” I barked.
“I’m sorry, miss, but I think you need to leave or I’ll call security.”
Her words only fueled the anger boiling inside me. I moved to push past her, but just then the doctor appeared.
“That’s enough, Anna. Go back to your ward,” the doctor ordered.
The nurse shot me a threatening glare before walking away.
“Miss Carter, you wanted to see me?”
“Yes. I want an autopsy on her body, and I want to see the CCTV footage of every nurse who went in and out of her room—including you,” I said.
My gaze drifted past her into the office.
Then I saw him.
A figure sat on her desk with his back turned to us. From his tailored suit to his polished shoes and expensive wristwatch, wealth radiated off him. I desperately wanted to see his face, but it seemed he was fully aware of my presence—and deliberately refused to turn.
“I’m sorry, Miss Carter, but I don’t believe you have the authority to request that. We’ve been informed that you are not Miss Zoe’s legal guardian. I’m afraid this case has been handed over to the police. Any information you need will have to come from them.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have a guest inside and many more patients to attend to.”
With that, she stepped back into her office and shut the door in my face.
A lump formed in my throat.
What was I supposed to do?
They killed her.
How could they?
I don’t know how long I stood there, frozen in front of that door. When I finally felt a firm tap on my shoulder, it was security telling me to leave.
When I refused, they dragged me out, threatening to have me arrested if I didn’t comply.
Whatever strength I had left shattered when the sky let out a low rumble—mirroring the chaos ringing inside my head. Moments later, the rain began to pour.
I stood in front of that hospital, refusing to move as the rain drenched me completely. The guilt tightened around my chest like a vic
e. Jaxon had warned me, but I was too blinded by my anger to listen.
And now it had cost a life.