Chapter 2 - The Algorithm of Mercy
By midnight, the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit on the fifth floor was quiet except for the steady, rhythmic swoosh of baby Emma’s ventilator.
Lily sat in a large vinyl recliner beside the crib, wrapped in a warm hospital blanket, a plate of untouched chicken tenders resting on the table beside her. Her small hand was reached through the clear plastic bars of the crib, her fingers resting against her baby sister’s tiny, IV-taped foot.
Ethan stood outside the glass partition in the hallway, holding two phones.
His corporate phone was buzzing continuously against his palm.
"Ethan, where the hell are you?" His Chief Operating Officer, Marcus Vance, spoke rapidly through the speaker. "The board of directors for Apex Health is meeting in four hours in Chicago. This merger is worth $1.2 billion. If you aren't on the private jet by 4:00 AM, the Apex shareholders are going to pull out of the deal!"
Ethan watched Lily’s reflection in the glass window.
"Postpone the meeting, Marcus," Ethan said flatly.
"Postpone it?!" Marcus sounded like he was hyperventilating. "Ethan, we’ve spent eighteen months setting up this acquisition! If we don't sign the merger papers today, your former business partner, Richard Sterling, is going to launch a hostile takeover bid at the opening bell! He’s already buying up floating shares!"
"I don't care, Marcus."
"You don't care?!" Marcus shouted. "It's Cole Meridian! Your life’s work! What could possibly be more important than being in Chicago right now?"
Ethan looked down at his right hand. He was still holding the faded MetroLink card with October 14 written on the back.
"A debt," Ethan said quietly. "Tell the board I'll join via video conference at nine o'clock. Not a minute earlier."
He ended the call before Marcus could reply.
Ten minutes later, the elevator doors at the end of the hall slid open with a soft chime.
A woman in a sharp grey wool suit stepped out, holding a thick leather briefcase. It was Sarah Lin, Ethan’s personal chief legal counsel and one of the few people in St. Louis who knew the full truth about the night Abigail died.
"Ethan," Sarah said, walking up to him, her eyes filled with deep concern. "I got your text. What happened?"
Ethan gestured toward the glass window.
Sarah stepped up to the glass, looking at the sleeping infant attached to the monitor tubes, and the exhausted seven-year-old girl curled up beside the crib.
"Claire Brooks died three days ago," Ethan explained, his voice rough. "These are her daughters. The hospital’s system is trying to route them into the state foster system."
Sarah sighed, pulling a tablet from her briefcase. "Ethan, you know how the system works. You built the algorithm that routes unrepresented minors to the Missouri Department of Social Services. Without a legal guardianship document signed by Claire before her death, CPS will take custody of both children by morning."
"Overturn it," Ethan ordered.
"It’s not that simple!" Sarah warned softly. "You are a single man. You're the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar publicly traded corporation. You have no blood relation to these girls. If Richard Sterling finds out you're attempting to adopt two orphaned children in the middle of a hostile takeover fight, he will use it against you in court! He'll claim you're emotionally unstable, just like he did six years ago!"
Ethan turned his head slowly, his grey eyes flashing with a cold, terrifying fire that made even his chief legal counsel take a half-step back.
"Richard Sterling took my company six years ago while I was burying my daughter," Ethan said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "He will not take these children."
Sarah stared at him, realizing in that moment that the cold, distant CEO she had represented for half a decade was gone.
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"What do you want me to do?" Sarah asked quietly.
"Draft emergency temporary guardianship papers," Ethan commanded. "Issue a corporate retainer for the best pediatric medical team in the Midwest. And find out why Claire Brooks was living in a run-down motel on Natural Bridge Road when Cole Meridian was supposed to be paying her a pension."
