Midnight Driver: Five Stars or Die

Ch 10. Before The Strom

    The smell of a hospital is always the same, no matter what time you enter. A cold blend of seventy percent alcohol and despair, masked by synthetic lemon air freshener. To Ray, the scent is more suffocating than diesel exhaust trapped in a traffic-clogged tunnel.

    

    11:45 p.m.

    

    Ray walks across the lobby of St. Jude Medical Center. His steps feel heavy. His leather shoes now bear thin scuffs on their toes, remnants of brutal pedal work during the heart delivery in Burbank earlier tonight.

    

    Behind the VIP reception desk, Mrs. Amber is still there. She is a corporate vampire who seems never to sleep. Ray drops a thick brown envelope onto the polished mahogany counter. It looks worn, slightly greasy, and smells of leftover adrenaline.

    

    Amber glances at the envelope, then peers at Ray over her glasses. “You came back quickly, Mr. Rayner. People with your profile usually need more time to gather liquidity.”

    

    “Count it,” Ray says flatly.

    

    Amber opens the envelope with two fingers, as if repulsed. She inspects the stacks of cash, hundred-dollar bills bound with rubber bands, some bearing faint red stains that might be dried blood from Aris’s veterinary clinic. The money-counting machine whirs rapidly, tallying each sheet of Ray’s sins.

    

    “The money smells a bit, Mr. Rayner,” Amber remarks without looking up.

    

    “Money has no memory, Mrs. Amber.”

    

    “True.” Amber presses a few keys. “Agatha Rayner’s account status: Green. Full access restored.” She removes her glasses. “Dr. Stein wants to speak with you. He’s in your sister’s room. And Ray, he’s not in the mood for small talk.”

    

    Ray does not wait. He strides toward the elevator.

    

    Room 1304 feels cold. Dr. Stein, an elderly man in an oversized white coat, stands beside Agatha’s bed. He is not reviewing charts. He is staring at a small medicine vial with an unreadable label.

    

    “Doctor,” Ray says.

    

    Stein does not turn around. “You know, Ray, at the orphanage where I grew up, we were taught that everything has a price. No one ever told us the price could change halfway through.”

    

    Ray steps closer, taking the other side of the bed. Agatha looks the same, still and pale.

    

    “Amber said there’s a medical issue,” Ray says.

    

    Stein finally turns. His eyes hold no sympathy, only sharp fatigue. “I just received a call from the hospital ethics board. They’re questioning the source of an anonymous donation that recently entered my department. A donation that, coincidentally, covered the operational costs of the lab treating Agatha.”

    

    Ray stays silent. “That’s not my problem.”

    

    “It becomes my problem when my license is at risk, Ray,” Stein replies, stepping closer, his voice dropping. “I keep Agatha here not because I’m a saint. I keep her because her case is valuable data for my neural recovery research. But if you keep bringing hot money into this place, the system will flag us. And when that happens, I won’t hesitate to let Agatha go to save my career.”

    

    Ray grips the metal rail of the bed. “Are you threatening her?”

    

    “I’m explaining the reality of this system,” Stein says firmly. “Agatha is in a persistent vegetative state. Her body is slowly giving up. We give her the best drugs available, but her organs are working overtime. And now there’s a new procedure in Switzerland. Experimental cortical stimulation. It’s the only hope left.”

    

    “How much?” Ray asks immediately.

    

    “Five hundred thousand dollars. For one therapy cycle. Plus a medical jet.” Stein meets Ray’s eyes. “Don’t look at me like I’m the villain, Ray. I’m giving you a way out. If you can’t provide it within seventy-two hours, I’ll recommend transferring Agatha to a long-term care facility that’s cheaper. And you know what that means.”

    

    It means Agatha will rot in a human warehouse without intensive care. Ray lets out a dry laugh. “Five hundred thousand. Seventy-two hours.”

    

    “The world is starting to demand repayment for her presence here, Ray. Think about it.” Stein pats Ray’s shoulder with a cold hand, then leaves the room.

    

    Ray sits beside Agatha. Five hundred thousand dollars. The number spins in his head like a broken slot machine wheel. He just risked his life for seventy-five thousand. How was he supposed to get five hundred thousand?

    

    He takes his sister’s thin hand. “I promise, Ag. I’ll take you to Switzerland.”

    

    Ray rests his head against the mattress. Physical exhaustion begins to pull his eyelids down. But rest has always been a luxury he cannot afford.

    

    His phone vibrates violently in his pocket. Ray jerks awake. 12:05 a.m. He has only closed his eyes for five minutes. The screen lights up the dark room, but this time the interface is different. Pitch black with minimalist white text.

    

    SPECIAL ORDER: THE GHOST PROTOCOL.

    

    Ray stops breathing. This is not a standard VIP job. This is the highest-tier order in the Car Gow hierarchy.

    

    CLIENT: ANONYMOUS (ENCRYPTION LEVEL: OMEGA).

    PICKUP LOCATION: St. Mary’s Orphanage (Abandoned Sector, North Hollywood).

    CARGO: 1 Sensitive Package.

    PAYMENT: $500,000 (ESCROW, RELEASED UPON COMPLETION).

    

    Ray freezes. Five hundred thousand dollars. The exact same number Dr. Stein mentioned five minutes ago.

    

    This is no coincidence. Someone is dissecting his life. Someone knows about his conversation with Stein, or maybe this hospital is fully tapped. They are dangling the carrot right in front of him, forcing Ray to run straight into a trap.

    

    St. Mary’s Orphanage. The place was shut down ten years ago. It’s a ghost building. A midnight pickup there with that kind of payout is the definition of a suicide mission.

    

    But Ray looks at Agatha’s heart monitor. The small green dot blinks slowly, as if counting down the rest of her life.

    

    “Five hundred thousand,” Ray whispers.

    

    This is his way out. And it is also the world’s way of collecting on every narrow escape he’s had. In the end, Ray has no good choices. Only a choice between losing Agatha or losing his own life.

    

    Ray stands, straightens his jacket, tightens his tie. His thumb hovers over the screen.

    

    ACCEPT?

    

    Ray presses the button without hesitation. The screen flashes once.

    

    CONFIRMED. DRIVER EN ROUTE TO LOCATION. DON’T ASK. DON’T CHECK THE MIRROR. DON’T DIE.

    

    Ray turns and walks out of the room. His cold focus returns. He is no longer a grieving brother. He is the Driver. And tonight, he will pick up his fate in a place where the past is usually buried.

    

    Outside the hospital, the night wind howls, shaking the palm trees. A storm is coming, and this time, Ray will not just drive through it. He will become part of the destruction itself.