Story code: ST-001095
Part 2: The Verification Dial
The sound of Marcus’s hand hitting the side table seemed to linger in the quiet waiting room. Chloe stared at Marcus’s palm, which remained pressed flat over the call button, preventing her from summoning the ICU staff.
‘Marcus, you’re blocking the button,’ Chloe said. Her voice had lost its soft quality; it was thin and sharp.
Marcus slowly lifted his hand, tucking it into his suit pocket. He stepped back, though he remained positioned between Chloe’s chair and the double doors leading to the ICU. ‘I’m preventing you from making a mistake that we can’t undo,’ he said. He glanced over his shoulder at me, his eyes narrowing slightly before returning to Chloe. ‘We have twenty minutes to transfer the authorization code. If the coordinator doesn’t get it, they pull the private transport vehicle.’
‘Then let Jean verify it,’ Chloe said, pointing a finger toward my desk. ‘Jean is the coordinator on duty. If there is a courier downstairs, Jean can log them in.’
Marcus’s shoulders stiffened. He turned fully toward the intake desk, his expression tightening. ‘Jean doesn’t handle external private transfers. This is outside the hospital’s standard pool. If we run it through the front desk, the legal team will hold it up for review.’
I kept my posture neutral, standing behind the counter. ‘Any authorized transport courier must check in at this desk, Marcus,’ I said. ‘We do not have any private transport logged for Toby’s transfer tonight. The only scheduled team is the regional organ bank transport at midnight.’
Marcus took a step toward the desk, his silver watch catching the fluorescent light. ‘That’s because the private clinic is bypassing the regional board. It’s an emergency allocation. Chloe, you signed the proxy forms. You have the authority to release the bracelet. Do it now.’
Chloe looked down at her hands. The blue silicone band was still threaded through her fingers. ‘You said Toby was failing, Marcus. You said there was a medical crisis.’
‘There is,’ Marcus said, his voice rising again, defensive. ‘The recipient’s team is ready. If we don’t act, the organ goes into the general pool.’
‘If there is an emergency with the recipient or the schedule,’ I said, picking up the heavy black desk receiver, ‘I need to call Dr. Vance immediately. He is the chief of transplant surgery, and he is currently on call in the building. He will have the authorization code and can confirm the bypass.’
I began dialing the four-digit internal extension.
Marcus’s hands came out of his pockets, his fingers twitching. ‘Wait,’ he said, taking a step closer to the desk. ‘Don’t call Vance.’
Marcus reached across the counter, his palm hovering over the phone’s hook, though he did not touch it. His breathing was rapid, his chest rising and falling beneath his suit jacket. ‘We don’t need to involve the chief of surgery over a scheduling dispute. Let’s just talk about this.’
Chloe stood up from her chair, the blue silicone bracelet still clutched tightly in her hand. She stared at Marcus, her gaze shifting from his face to his hand hovering near my telephone. ‘Marcus, if Toby’s life support is failing, or if the recipient is in danger, why wouldn’t we want Dr. Vance to know?’
Marcus did not look at her. His eyes remained fixed on my fingers, which were resting on the dial pad. ‘It’s complicated, Chloe. You don’t understand the politics of these lists.’
‘I understand that my brother is in that room,’ Chloe said, her voice trembling slightly as she gestured toward the ICU doors. ‘And I understand that you don’t want the surgeon on the phone.’
I pressed the final digit of the extension. The line began to ring, the electronic buzz echoing clearly in the quiet space between us.