Chapter 12 - THE LIE ABOUT HIS LEGS
Nicholas stared at Hannah.
“Say that again.”
They were inside a private room at St. Catherine’s.
Rebecca sat across from him.
Daniel stood near the door.
Walter remained silent.
Rebecca spoke carefully.
“Your initial spinal injury was severe, but incomplete.”
Nicholas’s hands tightened.
“My surgeons said—”
“Your original surgeon said you had a chance.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Nicholas looked at Hannah.
She had already reviewed the records.
Rebecca was right.
The earliest MRI report described incomplete compression.
Potential motor recovery uncertain.
Not impossible.
Then later reports changed.
Nicholas whispered, “Burke told me the nerve damage became permanent.”
Rebecca nodded.
“He increased medications that lowered your blood pressure and weakened you. Physical therapy sessions were repeatedly canceled. Your muscle response testing was manipulated.”
Nicholas looked down at his legs.
Eight months of helplessness.
Transfers.
Falling.
Being carried.
Being photographed in a wheelchair.
Claire touching his shoulder for cameras while whispering cruelty when nobody watched.
His voice broke.
“Why?”
Rebecca looked at Daniel.
“Ask him.”
Nicholas slowly turned.
Daniel’s face changed.
“What?”
Rebecca stood.
“You knew.”
Daniel shook his head.
“No.”
“You paid Burke.”
“No.”
“I saw the transfer.”
Daniel’s voice hardened.
“You saw Frank using my account.”
Rebecca laughed bitterly.
“That excuse worked once.”
Nicholas’s eyes went cold.
Daniel stepped forward.
“Nicky—”
“Don’t.”
Daniel stopped.
Nicholas’s voice became quieter.
“Did you know I might recover?”
Daniel said nothing.
That silence was enough.
Hannah felt sick.
Nicholas stared at his brother.
“You knew.”
Daniel finally spoke.
“I knew there was a chance.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I was trying to get inside Frank’s operation.”
“You watched me live in that chair.”
“If I came back too soon, Frank would disappear.”
“You watched Claire humiliate me.”
“I didn’t know about that.”
“Don’t lie to me again.”
Daniel looked away.
Nicholas whispered, “Did Claire know?”
“Yes.”
The word destroyed something in the room.
Nicholas closed his eyes.
Hannah stepped closer.
He lifted one hand.
“Don’t.”
She stopped.
Daniel tried again.
“Claire was supposed to keep you stable until we had proof.”
Nicholas looked at him.
“She was poisoning me.”
“She said Frank forced her.”
“She slapped me.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“I didn’t know.”
“She smiled beside my wheelchair while I thought I would never stand again.”
Daniel had no answer.
Nicholas looked at Hannah.
“Get me out of here.”
She moved behind his chair.
Rebecca called after them.
“Nicholas.”
He stopped.
She approached slowly.
“I’m sorry.”
He stared forward.
“You tried to warn me.”
“I should have done more.”
“You disappeared.”
“They made sure nobody would believe me.”
Nicholas finally looked at her.
“You’re alive.”
Rebecca nodded.
“So are you.”
Outside, Hannah pushed him toward the vehicle.
He said nothing for several minutes.
Then:
“Can you test me?”
“For what?”
“My legs.”
Hannah looked at him.
“Yes.”
“Tonight.”
“Yes.”
He swallowed.
“If there’s nothing…”
“We deal with it.”
“And if Rebecca’s right?”
Hannah stopped the chair.
She crouched in front of him.
“Then we start from the truth.”
Back at the mansion, she ran basic neurological checks.
Right foot.
Nothing.
Left.
Nothing obvious.
Then Hannah pressed along the inside of his ankle.
Nicholas jerked.
Both froze.
“Did you feel that?”
He stared at her.
“Yes.”
Hannah tested again.
A faint movement.
Tiny.
But real.
Nicholas’s eyes filled before he could stop them.
“My foot moved.”
“Yes.”
“It moved.”
“Yes.”
Then the mansion alarm sounded.
Hector’s voice came over the intercom.
“Security breach. North gate.”
Nicholas looked toward the door.
Hannah stood.
Another voice came through.
“Mr. Valenti…”
Static.
May you like
Then Hector shouted:
“Claire is back.”
