Room 414 smelled of iodine and old flowers. Dana, the night nurse, set down the morning chart and stopped cold. Mara was already there, her administrator badge catching the light, her lanyard crooked like she'd dressed in a hurry. In the bed lay Eli Voss, oxygen tube under his nose, eyes half open. "You shouldn't be in here," Dana said. Mara didn't move. "We need to talk before he wakes up."

"Talk about what?" Dana asked, keeping her voice low. Mara glanced at the door, then back. "Eli was about to file a report on this hospital. On me. Three patients got the wrong meds last year, and I buried it." Dana's stomach dropped. The man in the bed was a whistleblower, and her boss had just confessed.

Dana stepped back. "You killed those patients with your silence, and now you want mine." Mara flinched. "I didn't kill anyone. I made a mistake and I panicked." "And the next three patients?" Dana asked. Mara had no answer.

Mara's face hardened. "Fine. You want to be a hero? Your sister works in billing. One word from me and her file gets a very bad audit." The threat landed cold. Dana stared at the woman she'd worked under for years and saw a stranger.