Dr. Hayes stepped forward, his expression grave and professional. He looked past Shannon at the woman in the bed, then back at the shattered family. “Miss Vance, regardless of the legal proceedings, your mother’s clinical status is deteriorating rapidly. Without immediate surgical intervention, regardless of who pays or who goes to prison, she will suffer a fatal cardiac arrest within the hour.”
Shannon turned her gaze from her brother to the doctor. The fierce, vengeful auditor melted away for a fraction of a second, replaced by the daughter who had loved the woman inside that room long before the greed took root.
“Will the surgery save her, Dr. Hayes?” Shannon asked, her voice cracking slightly. “Realistically? Or is this just another延命 (extension) for a trial date?”
“The heart failure is real, Miss Vance,” the surgeon answered honestly, meeting her eyes with unsparing clarity. “The medical emergency is not a fabrication. Her heart is failing. If we operate now, she has a fighting chance at recovery. If we wait for marshals or court orders, she dies on this floor.”
Shannon looked down at the manila envelope in her hand, then toward her mother, who was peeking through her tear-stained fingers with a look of desperate, pathetic pleading.
Travis saw his opening. Sensing that the tide might be shifting back toward survival, he scrambled up from his daze, his voice pitching high with renewed desperation. “See? See, Shannon? The heart failure is real! She’s dying! Give the doctor the clearance code! We can hash out the money later, put me in jail, do whatever you want, just save our mother!”
