The doctor kept one hand on Zion’s chart while Marcus stared at her.
“Because that bath changes what we think happened before he got here.”
For several seconds, Marcus said nothing.
The corridor seemed to narrow around him.
He could still hear Emily’s voice as clearly as if she were standing beside him.
He felt much warmer than usual.
“What are you saying?” Marcus finally asked.
The doctor chose her words carefully.
“I’m saying the bath did not cause your son’s breathing crisis.
From what we’re seeing, Zion was already becoming ill before he was put in that water.”
Marcus’s eyes fixed on her.
“Then why did you ask about it?”
“Because his temperature when he arrived did not fully match several other signs we were seeing.
If he’d been in warm-to-lukewarm water shortly beforehand, that helps explain the discrepancy.
Someone may have noticed he was overheated and uncomfortable before the more obvious symptoms appeared.”
Marcus felt the blood drain from his face.
The doctor continued.
“We believe he has an acute infection that caused a rapid fever and respiratory distress.
He’s responding to treatment, and right now his oxygen level is stable.
But I need to know exactly what he was doing in the hour before the episode.
Who bathed him?”
Marcus opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
He saw Emily again, sleeves rolled above her elbows, one hand supporting Zion while the other poured water gently across his skin.
He remembered the baby leaning against her instead of fighting.
He remembered Emily saying something was wrong.
And he remembered exactly how he had answered.
You are a cleaner, not a caregiver.
“Her name is Emily,” Marcus said quietly.
“Is she here?”
Marcus looked toward the empty waiting area.
“No.”
The doctor waited.
Marcus swallowed.
“I fired her.”
The doctor’s expression did not change, but the silence that followed was worse than judgment.
“Then you need to speak with her,” she said.
“Not because she treated him.
She didn’t.
But because she may be the person who noticed the earliest symptoms.
I need her observations.”
Marcus reached for his phone.
His fingers trembled.
For a man who could reach cabinet ministers, executives, and bankers in seconds, the first call suddenly felt impossible.
He called the mansion.
One of the staff answered.
“Find Emily’s employment file.
I need her number now.”
There was a pause.
“Sir…
she hasn’t left the grounds yet.”
Marcus straightened.
“What?”
“Security stopped her at the front gate because her access badge had to be deactivated.
She’s waiting for her bag to be checked out.”
Marcus was already walking.
