Chapter 8 - The Call in the Night
Daniel’s stomach plummeted. He stood up immediately, patted Sarah's hand reassuringly, and followed Dr. Thorne into the quiet hospital corridor.
"What happened?" Daniel asked, his voice tight. "Is her oxygen dropping?"
"No," Dr. Thorne said, her eyes bright with intense professional urgency. "It's the regional donor network. UNOS just issued an emergency notification twenty minutes ago."
Daniel took a sharp breath. "A match?"
"A donor match has become available at Columbia Presbyterian," Dr. Thorne explained rapidly. "A young donor, perfect tissue cross-match, lungs in pristine condition. But there's an immediate complication."
"What complication?"
"The donor organs were made available sooner than expected due to an unexpected medical timeline," Dr. Thorne said. "Because Sarah was only placed on the active registry four hours ago, her administrative clearance paperwork hasn't cleared the state health department's centralized verification portal yet."
"What does that mean in plain English, Doctor?" Daniel demanded.
"It means that under standard procedure, the regional coordinator will move to the next patient on the list in forty-five minutes if the state medical board doesn't issue a verified regional transfer authorization," Dr. Thorne said bitterly. "And the state health department's digital portal is locked for routine weekend maintenance until six o'clock tomorrow morning."
Daniel’s blood turned to ice. "They are going to bypass a viable donor match because of a software maintenance window?"
"That's the bureaucracy of the public medical system, Daniel," Dr. Thorne said, shaking her head in frustration. "Without an official state authorization signature logged in the system, the surgical transport team cannot legally move the organs across town."
Daniel pulled out his cell phone.
"Who is the head of the State Department of Health?" Daniel asked, his tone dropping into the lethal, decisive register he used when executing multi-million-dollar corporate takeovers.
"Dr. Richard Vance," Dr. Thorne said. "He’s the state health commissioner."
Daniel froze. "Vance? Is he related to Marcus Vance?"
"He's Marcus Vance's older brother," Dr. Thorne said grimly. "And Marcus sits on the hospital's regional oversight board."
Daniel stared down the quiet hospital hallway. The pieces of the puzzle aligned in his mind with terrifying clarity. Marcus Vance wasn't just pulling his corporate contracts—he was using his brother's administrative position to block the rapid authorization of Sarah's transplant file as retaliation for Daniel’s public attack on Vance Capital.
Daniel looked through the glass window of Room 714, where little Emma was holding her mother's hand, laughing at a picture in a storybook.
"Dr. Thorne," Daniel said quietly. "Prep Sarah for surgery. Get the operating room ready."
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"Daniel, without that authorization signature, the Columbia Presbyterian team won't release the organs to our transport helicopter!"
"They'll release them," Daniel said, turning on his heel toward the elevator. "Because I am going to get that signature in twenty minutes."
