Chapter 4

Tracy scoffed. "That's assuming Neal even survives till tomorrow morning."

My heart slowly died with every biting word she spoke.

As the clock ticked further into the night, my body temperature dropped. But the sedative left me paralyzed, and the overdose of the drug corroded what little remained of my consciousness.

There was no chance I would survive this.

Gavin stared me down with eyes full of malice, while Tracy's gaze was ice-cold.

"If you look into the camera and admit you're a psychopath right now, maybe we'll be kind enough to call you an ambulance," she said.

My eyes slowly scanned Tracy's face, as if I were looking at a complete stranger. This was the woman who had stood at the altar, vowing to stay with me in sickness and in health.

Yet now, she was personally pushing me toward death.

…

My world descended into absolute chaos. My consciousness sank deeper until Gavin's sudden startled shout cut through the dead silence.

"Neal! Are you okay? His heart monitor has flatlined, Tracy. If he dies here on the livestream, will it affect your account?"

"Quick! Shut down the livestream right now!" Tracy barked.

"But…" Gavin pretended to hesitate before saying, "If we abruptly end the livestream, won't it make us seem more suspicious? Some of the viewers are already asking what's going on in the comments."

Right on cue, a few sharp comments flashed across the screen.

"That seizure didn't look like an act at all."

"Shall we call an ambulance?"

"I'm a medical student, and those symptoms look seriously wrong."

I couldn't speak at all. All I could feel was Tracy's and Gavin's frantic hands tearing all the monitoring equipment off my body.

Once the last electrode patch was ripped from my skin, the last transmission of my vital signs was cut off.

Gavin whispered, "We'll just say the equipment malfunctioned, and the livestream disconnected. Then, we'll move him to the storage room, where there are no security cameras. We can wait until the heat dies down before deciding what to do with him…"

They roughly heaved my limp body up. My head helplessly lolled back and slammed against the doorframe, but neither of them cared.

Just as they were dragging me toward the storage room, frantic footsteps suddenly echoed down the hallway.

"Freeze! Medical Device Regulatory Bureau! We received a formal report regarding an illegal medical livestream operating at this address. Please cooperate with the investigation at once!"

Startled, Gavin let go, and my body slammed heavily onto the floor. Tracy scrambled to shut the door, but the law enforcement officers forcefully rammed it open.

"The patient's vital signs are critically weak! Call an ambulance now!"

The captain leading the raid rapidly assessed my condition before announcing in a stern voice, "Intentionally disconnecting a patient's life-support system is attempted murder."

Tracy shrieked in denial, "You don't know what you're talking about. He's faking it!"

The captain responded by flashing a search warrant. "Save your breath for the police station."

Then, he barked urgent orders into his earpiece, "Critical patient discovered on scene. Initiate emergency medical response at once!"

Medical personnel rushed forward and fitted a new battery into my heart.

Just then, the captain's satellite phone rang. He tapped on speaker mode, and my mentor's cold voice rang through.

"This is Gordon Nielson, Chief Medical Officer at the Military General Hospital, and the patient's primary cardiothoracic surgeon.

"My mentee's life-monitoring system has transmitted the entire vital log to our headquarters. This incident has officially been flagged as a national security medical crisis.

"I'm ordering immediate control of the scene. Multiple departments will conduct a joint task force to see this investigation through to the end!"