CHAPTER 15: Smokes and Secrets.
The morning sun filtered through the blinds in soft golden streaks, but Penelope barely noticed. She slipped back into her apartment, heels in one hand, hair tousled from a night she didn't entirely regret.
Andrew was still asleep.
Of course he was, she left him at his apartment wanting to be alone for a while.
She tossed her heels near the couch, already halfway to the kitchen when her phone buzzed. She rolled her eyes, expecting another client or maybe her mother. But the number wasn't saved.
Curious, she picked up. "Hello?"
A man's voice, unsure and slightly winded, answered.
"Penelope? I—uh—I think I saw your friend, Elizabeth. She's at St. Grace Hospital. I work in the emergency wing… she was admitted a few nights ago. Car accident or something."
Penelope froze, her fingers tightening around the phone.
"She's in the west wing, Third floor,Room 308. I just thought you should know."
Then — click. The line went dead.
Silence stretched through the room like a blade. Her breath caught.
Elizabeth.
Alive?
She hadn't heard a word from her since the blowout. Since the betrayal. Since Andrew.
"Damn it," she hissed.
In one motion, she raised the phone — fingers itching to throw it against the wall — but stopped short. Her pulse slowed. Her eyes sharpened.
She had a better idea.
She tapped her screen, found a number, and pressed call.
"Hello?" a male voice answered groggily on the second ring.
"It's me," Penelope said coolly. "I need a favor. A big one."
"Name it."
"There's a girl in the west wing, Third floor ,Room 308, at St. Grace. Elizabeth." She paused, letting the name simmer. "I need her gone. Quietly. No mess."
A long pause.
"You sure about this?" he asked, voice low now. Serious.
She stared out the window, her reflection pale in the glass. Her voice was ice.
"I don't care how you do it. Just make sure she doesn't wake up."
Later that evening…
Gregory stood across the street from St. Grace Hospital, a black hoodie pulled low over his eyes. The soft hum of traffic buzzed around him, but his focus was fixed on the third floor windows.
Room 308.
He lit a cigarette with shaking fingers — more out of habit than need — and exhaled slowly. This wasn't the first time Penelope had asked him for something dirty, but it was the first time she'd asked for something this… final.
He pulled out his phone, the screen glowing in the dim light. One new message.
> Don't chicken out, Greg.
You owe me.
One job and you're free.
His jaw tightened.
He did owe her. For covering up that night in San Francisco. For cleaning up the mess he hadn't meant to make.
Still…
Elizabeth.
She didn't seem like someone who deserved this.
He glanced up again.
Room 308.
"Just in and out," he muttered to himself. "Quiet. No mess."
But something in his gut twisted. This wasn't his usual dealings.
Inside St. Grace Hospital – Night
The fluorescent lights flickered faintly as Gregory stepped into the quiet hallway of the third floor, a white lab coat draped over his shoulders and a surgical mask covering the lower half of his face.
He moved like he belonged there.
Clipboard in hand. Confident. Silent.
Room 308 was halfway down the hall. He paused just outside the door, heart pounding in his ears. No nurses in sight. No cameras pointing directly at the room.
Just one more job.
He pushed the door open quietly.
The room was dim, lit only by a sliver of light spilling in from the hallway. Machines beeped softly, their lights blinking in a steady rhythm. The figure in the bed was still. Swaddled in blankets. Face mostly wrapped in gauze and bandages.
He didn't bother confirming.
Didn't want to.
With practiced fingers, he moved to the side of the bed and gently unclipped the oxygen mask. The soft hiss of air stopped instantly. The beeping slowed.
He stood there for a second — watching.
Waiting.
Then… nothing.
He turned, forced his breath steady, and slipped out the door taking the emergency staircase.
---
Outside, the night air slapped him like cold water. He yanked off the mask and lab coat in one motion, stuffing them into a trash bin in the alley.
His hands shook as he pulled out his phone.
One ring. Two.
She picked up.
"Well?" Penelope's voice was low and clipped.
"It's done," he said, glancing back toward the hospital. "Room 308. Just like you said."
A pause. Then:
"Good."
She hung up without another word.
Gregory stared at the phone for a second before sliding it into his pocket. His stomach twisted, but it was too late now.
He told himself it was just a job.
Only… something about it didn't feel finished
Just as he left someone entered the hospital and walked directly to the reception asking for Elizabeth's ward.
" She's in room, Third floor, down the hallway room 308" she smiled.
Nodding his head in understanding, Taking the elevator, he got to the third floor and entered the ward. Noticing the patient had stopped breathing. He set the room ablaze and left.
The receptionist suddenly remembered that Elizabeth had been discharged from the hospital. Went to the ward to talk to the visitor when the fire alarm rang and the next thing heard was an Explosion due to the oxygen gas in the room.