Chapter 13 - The Walk of Shame “Keep moving, Mr. Vance. Head toward the exit doors.”
“Just let me look at him one last time through the glass.”
“No delays. You had your chance to think about consequences.”
“Helen, please tell them to give me just one minute.”
“There is nothing left to say, Adrian. It’s over.”
“Take care of Leo. Tell Lily I’m sorry I broke my promise.”
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The walk down the long, sterile hospital corridor felt like a slow march to the gallows. Flanked by Agent Ramos and his partner, Adrian kept his head held high despite the burning humiliation and the heavy steel cuffs biting into his bandaged wrists. Nurses, visiting families, and medical staff turned to watch the grim procession, whispering behind cupped hands as the tall, tattooed man in the blood-stained black shirt was escorted out of the building. Through the glass partition of the intensive care unit, he caught one final glimpse of Leo lying motionless inside the incubator, connected to the quiet rhythm of the life-support machine. Helen stood just outside the glass, her arms crossed tightly over her white blazer, her face set in a mask of absolute stone as she refused to meet his pleading gaze. The automated sliding doors of the hospital lobby parted with a soft hiss, welcoming the cool evening breeze and a swarm of local reporters and camera crews who had somehow caught wind of the developing federal arrest. Flashes popped like sudden lightning storms in his face, blinding him momentarily as microphones were shoved aggressively toward his mouth. Shouts of sensationalized questions echoed across the pavement, turning his personal tragedy into public entertainment. Adrian bit his lower lip until he tasted copper, forcing his legs to keep moving forward toward the unmarked federal sedan waiting at the curb. He knew that even if he somehow beat the criminal charges, the man who walked back out into the world would be an entirely different entity, forever defined by the sins of a single, catastrophic day.
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