Chapter 2 - The Red Tie and the Card
"County General’s ER wait time is eleven hours tonight," Daniel said, his voice dropping an octave, tightening with a quiet, dangerous resolve. "He won't make eleven hours in a waiting room chair if his spleen is ruptured."
"That is not our clinical liability, Vance," Sterling snapped, stepping around the counter until he stood three feet behind Daniel’s shoulder. "Rules are rules. Apex Corp does not run a charity ward. If you input a fake billing code to bypass the portal again, I’m writing you up for gross misconduct."
Daniel stared at the three crumpled one-dollar bills sitting on the laminate surface. He thought of his own father—a steelworker who had died five years ago in an underfunded municipal ward while corporate auditors debated his insurance coverage. He thought of the badge pinned to his chest, the seventy-five dollars remaining in his checking account, and the eviction notice sitting in his apartment drawer.
Slowly, deliberately, Daniel reached into the back pocket of his dark blue trousers.
He pulled out his personal black leather wallet. From the front slot, he withdrew a worn, green debit card—his personal account.
He placed the card squarely on top of Arthur’s wet medical papers.
Sterling’s eyes narrowed into slits. He set his thermal mug down on the counter with a hard thud.
"What do you think you're doing, Daniel?" Sterling warned, pointing a pale, manicured finger directly at Daniel’s face. "If you pay for him, hand over your badge. You're fired on the spot. No severance, no reference, blacklisted from the Apex network."
Daniel picked up the barcode scanner and swiped his own debit card through the payment reader beside his keyboard.
BEEP.
The monitor flashed green: PAYMENT ACCEPTED - TRIAGE PRINTING.
Daniel reached up, unpinned the plastic ID badge from his blue polo shirt, and set it smoothly beside his debit card.
"I'll cover it for you," Daniel said, looking directly into Arthur’s weathered, grey eyes.
"You idiot," Sterling sneered, snatching the plastic badge off the counter. "You just ruined your career for a transient who won't even remember your name tomorrow. Get out from behind my desk."
Daniel didn't flinch. He grabbed a fresh yellow triage wristband from the printer tray, stepped out from behind the counter, and walked around to where the old man stood.
May you like
"He needs medical care more than I need this job," Daniel said flatly, looking Sterling straight in the eye.
Sterling scoffed, waving his hand toward the exit. "Security will escort both of you off the property the second the doctor looks at him. You're done here, Vance."
