Chapter 119: Chapter 119: The Terms of Surrender

The uninjured police officer caught the doctor’s eye and gave a sharp jerk of his head signaling for him to step back into the corridor.

The doctor however stood his ground by the bedside for a final moment looking down at Ashley with grim determination.

"Miss Vane, I am ordering your immediate admission regardless of your statement" said the doctor, his voice cold and clinical "If we do not operate to stop that internal bleeding, you will not survive the day"

"The narcotics you were given are almost entirely out of your system" said the doctor "In a matter of minutes, you are going to experience an absolute hell of physical agony if we don’t administer targeted anesthesia and high-dose antibiotics, you need to let us do our job"

Ashley clutched her side as a vicious burning spike of pain flared through her abdomen forcing a ragged gasp from her lips.

She looked at the sterile white ceiling completely defeated and realized she had run out of choices.

"Fine" whispered Ashley, her eyes closing as fresh tears welled up "Just... please save my mom too"

The doctor nodded to the waiting nurse who immediately stepped forward and injected a heavy sedative directly into the IV line.

Within seconds the blinding fire creeping across Ashley’s ribs and groin began to recede.

Dissolving into a heavy dark cloud of artificial numbness as they wheeled her gurney toward the surgical theater.

Once the double doors slammed shut the doctor turned fiercely toward the police officer in the hallway.

"We need to secure that monster in the waiting room immediately" demanded the doctor, his face flushed with anger "He belongs in a cell!"

"We can’t hold him" stated the officer, his voice dropping into a tense desperate whisper as he rubbed his temples "In fact, we have to let him go right now"

"What?!" snapped the doctor, his jaw dropping in disbelief "He’s a danger to society! Look at what he did to that girl! And your partner said he—"

"He beat your nephew into a pulp because that idiot decided to give him a ’warm-up’ while he was tightly handcuffed" said the officer "The guy isn’t her boyfriend, he’s just an acquaintance who brought her in"

"The girl refused to sign a complaint and swore under oath that it was an accident" said the officer "Do you know what that means, Doctor?"

The doctor opened his mouth to argue but the officer stepped closer his expression completely terrified.

"It means your nephew conducted an illegal detention committed police brutality and assaulted a completely innocent citizen with zero legal backing" explained the officer, his hands shaking slightly "The guy in the holding room knows the penal code cover to cover"

"If we try to press charges for the broken nose, he will drag us into federal court" said the officer "He will strip us of our badges and send my nephew straight to prison for abuse of authority, we completely botched this, and right now, our only option is to play nice and pray he doesn’t sue the entire department"

The doctor closed his eyes and let out a long exhausted sigh rubbing the bridge of his nose as the harsh reality of the situation settled in.

"Just let him go" said the doctor, his voice tight and frustrated "But get my nephew out of here right now"

"I don’t believe their relationship is as simple as they claim" said the doctor "Even if they aren’t a couple, they aren’t far from it, and it’s far too dangerous to keep a guy like that lingering around my clinic"

"Damn it" muttered the officer, adjusting his heavy utility belt as he glanced toward the holding area "That brat of a nephew is going to cause a massive mess for us, old man, I don’t get paid nearly enough to protect your idiot relative from his own stupidity"

"I know, I know" stated the doctor, waving his hand dismissively to cut him off "Just get him out of the building, calling him here was a complete mistake on my part"

The officer turned on his heel without another word eager to drag his bloody colleague out through the back exit before Alexander could use any more legal leverage against them.

The doctor stood alone in the quiet corridor for a moment straightening his green scrubs and fixing a neutral professional mask back onto his face.

The officer hurried back into the treatment room where two nurses were already frantically working over his bleeding partner.

One of the nurses positioned her hands gripped the bridge of the man’s nose and forcefully shoved two fingers upward to realign the shattered septum.

CRUNCH.

The sickening sound of cartilage popping back into place echoed through the room as the injured cop let out a muffled scream.

Blood splattering onto the linoleum while the second nurse rushed to wipe away the heavy flow.

Throughout the entire chaotic scene Alexander remained seated in the metal chair his wrists still firmly bound behind his back.

He looked completely relaxed staring forward with an icy indifference as if the bloody mess unfolding right in front of him didn’t concern him in the slightest.

The uninjured officer stepped forward his face pale as he quickly pulled out his key ring and unlocked the steel handcuffs.

"Our deepest apologies, sir" said the officer, keeping his voice as humble and polite as possible "The young lady, Ashley Vane, has fully confirmed your story"

"You are completely cleared of all charges" said the officer "And the department offers its most sincere apologies for this unfortunate misunderstanding"

Alexander rubbed his wrists the dark bruising from the cuffs contrasting against his skin.

A part of him wanted to push the matter further to use his legal leverage and completely ruin these incompetent cops.

But the situation regarding Marcus’s sister was his absolute priority right now.

He couldn’t afford to waste any more time playing games with local precinct thugs.

Alexander stood up towering over the officer his dark eyes locking onto the two men with a chilling absolute promise of violence.

"If I ever see either of your faces again, this situation will not end until I see both of you completely buried in the shit" stated Alexander, his voice dropping into a low, terrifying register "Do you hear me?"

The uninjured officer quickly swallowed hard and nodded unable to look him in the eye.

Without another word Alexander turned on his heel and walked out of the holding area.

His expression instantly reverting back to a perfectly calm unreadable mask as he strode down the corridor and returned to the quiet hospital waiting room.