Chapter 12 - My Brother's Empty Hospital Bed|
I had never seen Dominic Vale move so quickly.
He was already reaching for his phone when I showed him the photograph.
“Gabriel. Contact hospital security.”
My hands were shaking.
“Please, Dominic.”
He looked at me.
“Clara, breathe.”
“They took him.”
“We don't know that yet.”
“They sent me a picture of his empty bed!”
He stepped closer.
“Look at me.”
I forced myself to meet his eyes.
“We're going to find out where he is.”
Twenty minutes later, I was racing through St. Catherine's Hospital with Dominic and two security officers behind me.
Mary Collins, the nurse who had called me earlier, met us outside Tyler's room.
“Clara!”
“Where is he?”
“He's safe.”
My knees weakened.
“What?”
“Your brother was taken downstairs for additional cardiac imaging.”
I stared at her.
“Why didn't anyone answer his phone?”
“It was charging here.”
Tears spilled down my cheeks.
Relief.
Anger.
Exhaustion.
All at once.
Mary guided me to a chair.
“Someone has been asking questions about him,” she admitted.
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“A man who claimed to represent your employer.”
Dominic's expression changed.
“What man?”
Mary hesitated.
“He wore a gray coat.”
Marcus.
Again.
Dominic requested that hospital security preserve the visitor records.
Then he asked Mary whether Tyler had ever been connected to the Three Bells Foundation.
She looked surprised.
“Yes.”
I turned.
“What?”
Mary explained that Tyler had volunteered at a Three Bells fundraising event the previous year while working toward a technical certification.
He helped organize donated computers and transfer inventory records.
“He was very good with the software,” she said.
I stared at her.
Tyler had never mentioned that.
When I finally found him, he was sitting in a wheelchair outside the imaging department.
“Clara?”
I rushed forward and hugged him.
“Don't ever scare me like that again!”
He laughed weakly.
“What did I do?”
I pulled back.
“Why didn't you tell me you worked for Three Bells?”
His smile faded.
“Because it was just a volunteer thing.”
“Tyler.”
He looked toward Dominic.
Then back at me.
“There was something strange about that place.”
My heart began pounding.
“What?”
He hesitated.
“They said it was a children's charity, but part of the building was closed off.”
“What building?”
“A private medical center outside Lake Forest.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“Did you go inside?”
“Just once.”
Tyler looked uncomfortable.
“I was helping move old computers when I saw a woman in the hallway.”
“What woman?” I asked.
“She looked sick. Really pale. There was a nurse walking beside her.”
He swallowed.
“The woman grabbed my arm and asked me to call someone.”
“Who?”
Tyler stared at Dominic.
“She said, 'Tell Dominic I didn't leave him.'”
The room went completely silent.
Dominic looked as though someone had struck him.
Then Tyler reached into his hospital bag.
“I took a photo of the building afterward. I thought maybe someday I should tell someone.”
He handed me his phone.
In the photograph, the medical center's sign displayed three black circles.
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And beneath them were the words:
THREE BELLS RECOVERY HOUSE.
