Every conversation in the corridor stopped. A nurse stepped forward automatically, then froze, because this wasn’t a spill anymore. This was a scene.

Connor stared at the paper. “Melinda.”

Not angrily. Not yet. He said it like a man feeling for a missing stair in the dark.

Melinda whispered, “You said it was destroyed.”

Some sentences don’t need explaining. Everyone in that hallway heard that one and understood it had nothing to do with the bottle.

Kenneth kept his eyes on Connor. “Mr. Fleming, before you say another word, I need to advise you that Dr. Sinclair did not request this confrontation.