Chapter 6 - The Secondary Line
Arthur’s eyes snapped upward.
Hanging from the tall stainless-steel pole beside the bed was a clear plastic IV bag filled with saline solution. A thin, transparent tube trailed downward from the bag, running through a digital volumetric pump before disappearing under the tape on Lily’s arm.
Clamped discreetly to the top of the IV bag, hidden behind the blue plastic hanging hook, was a tiny, secondary micro-injector—its glass barrel filled with a pale, amber liquid that was slowly, drop by drop, dripping into the main fluid line.
Arthur’s breath hitched in his throat. Panic, hot and blinding, flooded his veins.
"Investigator!" Arthur screamed, turning toward the doorway.
The female investigator, who was halfway out the door, spun around, her hand dropping instinctively to the leather holster at her waist. "What is it?"
"The IV!" Arthur yelled, his voice cracking as he reached out with trembling hands toward the plastic line. "Don't touch it! Stop the pump!"
"I wouldn't pull that tube if I were you, Arthur," Michael’s voice drawled through the phone speaker, calm as an executioner reading a decree. "The pressure valve on that micro-injector is linked to the pump's flow sensor. If the flow stops abruptly, the entire twenty-milligram dose dumps into her vein at once."
Arthur’s hand froze two inches from the plastic shut-off clamp. Cold sweat broke out across his forehead, trickling down into his eyes.
The investigator rushed to the side of the bed, her eyes darting frantically between Arthur, the glowing screen of the IV pump, and the tiny amber vial clamped near the top hook.
May you like
"What is that?" she demanded, pulling a small tactical flashlight from her belt and shining the beam onto the micro-injector. "Who put that there?"
"Michael," Arthur breathed, his phone still pressed flat against his ear. "Michael put it there."
