Magnificent Magnus Mace

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Magnus stared at his cracked phone screen. The rain washed the mud from his bruised knuckles, dripping onto the wet pavement. The green light of the active call illuminated the dirt caked under his fingernails.

​"Mr. Mace. Are you still on the line?" Corbin asked, his voice steady, professional, and entirely human.

​"I am here," Magnus whispered. The word unlimited felt entirely foreign in his mouth. "I need to get to the university hospital. Immediately."

​"Transport is already waiting," Corbin replied smoothly. "Look to your left, sir."

​Magnus turned his head. A massive, heavily armored black sedan idled quietly at the curb. It looked like a mobile military fortress dressed as a luxury vehicle. The rear door clicked open. Magnus threw himself inside. The interior smelled of rich leather and ozone.

​"We coordinated with city officials to clear the traffic grid," Corbin announced through the car audio system. "Arrival in three minutes."

​Magnus closed his eyes as the vehicle accelerated with terrifying force, pressing him deep into the plush seat. The physical trauma to his ribs throbbed violently, but the suffocating weight of his poverty was gone. He looked at his ruined clothes in the tinted window reflection. He had survived the exile. Now, he had to save Maya.

​The automatic doors of the hospital lobby slid open. Magnus burst into the sterile, brightly lit waiting area. He ignored the startled looks from the seated patients. A bleeding, muddy student sprinting through the lobby was alarming, but Magnus only had eyes for the reception desk.

​"Where is she?" Magnus slammed his hand flat on the counter. "Maya Mace. Room three zero four. Is she still there?"

​Nurse Brenda looked up, her eyes brimming with tears. "Magnus. I tried to stall the administration. I really did."

​"Where is my sister, Brenda?" Magnus demanded.

​"Director Reed ordered her discharge ten minutes ago," Brenda said, her voice dropping to an anxious whisper. "They moved her to the basement holding ward. They are preparing the paperwork to transfer her to the state clinic."

​"The state clinic?" Magnus felt the blood drain from his face. "That place is an absolute morgue. She needs the specialized dialysis machine right here. If you move her, she dies."

​"Reed said the account is six months overdue," Brenda whispered. "The Sterling family board members issued a mandate that we prioritize paying clients."

​"Where is he?" Magnus growled.

​"His office," Brenda warned, reaching out to grab his arm. "Magnus, please do not go up there. He has private security."

​Magnus pulled his arm away gently but firmly. "Let them try."

​He took the stairs two at a time, completely ignoring the screaming pain in his side. He burst onto the administrative floor and kicked open the heavy mahogany door reading Marcus Reed, Director of Finance.

​Inside the lavish office, Marcus Reed was laughing loudly. He sat behind a massive oak desk, swirling a glass of amber liquid. Sitting across from him was Victor Kane, a pharmaceutical representative known for pushing experimental drugs to the wealthy elite.

​"Mace," Reed sneered, setting his expensive glass down. "Did you come to wash my office windows? You certainly look dressed for the part."

​"Put her back," Magnus said, his voice deadly quiet. "Put my sister back in her room and turn the dialysis machine back on."

​Reed sighed theatrically and tossed a thin file onto the floor. "That is the cancellation of medical services. Your sister is a massive drain on our financial resources. The outstanding bill is forty thousand dollars. Did you rob a campus vending machine?"

​"I have the money," Magnus said. He placed his cracked smartphone on the pristine desk. "Corbin. Are you listening?"

​"I am here, sir," Corbin replied clearly from the phone speaker.

​Reed snorted in amusement. "What is this? A prank call? Get out of my office before I call the police."

​"Corbin," Magnus continued, entirely ignoring the director. "Wire forty thousand dollars to the hospital primary billing account. Clear the debt for Maya Mace."

​"Processing now, sir," Corbin replied. "Funds verified and transferred."

​Victor Kane leaned forward, smirking. "Humor him, Marcus. Check your terminal. Let us see the insufficient funds notice pop up."

​Reed rolled his eyes and tapped the keyboard. His arrogant smirk slowly melted off his face, quickly replaced by absolute shock. He blinked rapidly, leaning closer to the glowing monitor.

​"Paid in full," Reed whispered, his hands trembling over the keyboard. "Forty thousand dollars just cleared. Wait. The screen is refreshing. A pre payment for the Presidential Suite? An anonymous donation to the Cardiac Wing for two million dollars?"

​"Corbin," Magnus said coldly. "Execute the secondary directive."

​"Yes, sir," Corbin echoed in the quiet room. "Vanguard Prime Trust just purchased a controlling fifty one percent stake in the Medical Group. You are now the majority owner, Mr. Mace."

​Reed looked up at Magnus, his face turning the color of ash. "Who are you?"

​"I am the man who just bought this hospital," Magnus said. "So I can fire you."

​"Mr. Mace!" Reed stammered, standing up so fast his heavy leather chair toppled backward. He scrambled around the desk, his arrogance evaporating completely. "Sir. A terrible misunderstanding! I was just following the Sterling board protocol. The computer system said you were completely indigent."

​"Is my sister back in her room?" Magnus asked, staring down at the sweating man.

​"She will be right now!" Reed squeaked in sheer terror. He grabbed his desk phone. "Brenda! Move the patient Maya Mace to the Presidential Suite on the top floor. Get the Chief of Medicine in there right now. Move!"

​Reed slammed the phone down and offered a desperate, sickeningly sweet smile. "Done. Top priority. Mr. Mace, please, about the hospital acquisition. Surely we can discuss this professional transition over a drink?"

​Magnus looked at the glass of expensive whiskey resting on the desk. He reached out and picked it up. Reed watched him, his eyes shining with desperate hope.

​Magnus tipped the glass, pouring the amber liquid directly onto the carpet.

​"I do not drink with trash," Magnus said.

​He picked up his phone. "You have exactly one hour to clear out your office, Reed. If you are still in this building when I come back, I will have the security guards throw you out into the street."

​"But my pension," Reed whimpered softly.

​"Your pension just bought my sister new pillows," Magnus said without looking back.

​He walked out of the office, leaving a deafening silence behind him. As Magnus stepped into the VIP elevator, he lifted the phone back to his ear.

​"Sister secured," Corbin reported smoothly. "Our private medical team is arriving at the helipad now. She is completely safe, sir."

​Magnus leaned his head against the cool metal of the elevator wall. A single tear tracked through the dirt on his bruised cheek. "She is safe."

​"She is," Corbin confirmed. "Now, regarding the secondary objective. Trent Sterling is currently at the Onyx VIP Club."

​"He is celebrating?" Magnus asked, watching the floor numbers climb upward.

​"Yes, sir. He is celebrating his perceived victory with a bottle of champagne that costs more than your former university tuition."

​Magnus stopped walking. A dark, incredibly cold smile spread slowly across his bruised face.

​"Corbin. How much is the Onyx Club worth?"

​"Market value is currently estimated at twelve million dollars," the executive replied instantly. "Pocket change."

​Magnus resumed walking toward his sister's room, his stride long and deeply confident. The limp from the beating was entirely gone, replaced by pure adrenaline.

​"Buy it," Magnus commanded. "Buy the entire building right now. And tell the security staff to lock the front doors."

​"Confirmed. Purchase protocol initiated," Corbin replied.

​Magnus stopped at the door to the Presidential Suite. He could see Maya through the observation glass, sleeping peacefully surrounded by attentive doctors. She was going to live.

​He turned away from the window, looking out at the sprawling city skyline.

​"Tell the bouncers not to let anyone leave," Magnus said, his voice dropping into a deadly register. "I am coming to crash his party.”