Chapter 5: Dawn at the ICU
"You can't do this to me!" Mauricio screamed as two of Iván’s men grabbed him by the arms. "I am her husband! I have legal rights! Half of everything she owns is mine!"
"You own nothing," Ernesto replied, turning his back on him. "Check your pockets, Mauricio. Even the phone you are carrying was billed to my corporate account."
Within five minutes, the party guests, the mistress, and a frantically protesting Mauricio were stripped of their luxury amenities and forced into the marina's auxiliary water taxi to be dumped unceremoniously back on the public docks—without their coats, without their dignity, and without a single peso in credit.
By 5:30 AM, the first pale orange light of dawn was breaking over the Caribbean horizon as Ernesto walked back into the intensive care unit at Ángeles Hospital.
The neurosurgeon was waiting for him outside Cubicle 4.
"How is she, Doctor?" Ernesto asked, stopping in front of the window that looked into the sterile room.
"She survived the procedure, Don Ernesto," the doctor said, exhaling a deep breath of professional relief. "We successfully evacuated the epidural hematoma and relieved the intracranial pressure. Her vital signs are stabilizing."
Ernesto closed his eyes, leaning his hand against the glass. For the first time all night, the steel armor around his heart cracked, letting out a silent, profound prayer of gratitude.
"Will there be permanent damage?"
"It is too early to tell, but Valentina is young and strong," the doctor replied. Then, his expression hardened, and he lowered his voice. "Don Ernesto... while we were operating, we documented her trauma patterns for the medical record."
"And?"
The doctor handed Ernesto a sealed forensic envelope.
"A fall down stairs causes tumbling abrasions and random impact points," the doctor said quietly. "Valentina suffered a localized, high-velocity blunt impact to the occipital bone, consistent with being struck by a heavy object, followed by linear contusions on her shoulders where she was forcibly held down. This was not an accident, sir. She was assaulted."
Ernesto took the envelope. The weight of the paper felt like a loaded gun in his hand.
"Does she have any visitors?" Ernesto asked.
"No, sir. Only you."
"Good." Ernesto tucked the envelope into his coat pocket. "In about an hour, her husband is going to arrive at this hospital. He will be desperate, he will be broke, and he will try to play the grieving husband one last time for the cameras."
"Should I call campus security to ban him from the floor?" the doctor asked.
May you like
Ernesto turned toward the elevator bank, his eyes cold and steady.
"No, Doctor," Ernesto said quietly. "Let him come up. I want him to see exactly what waiting for justice looks like."
