Chapter 21 — What Money Couldn’t Buy

It took Aurelio several seconds to understand the words.

“What do you mean, he could die?

They examined him thoroughly a month ago.”

Dr.

Ochoa opened the file, and explained as gently as the facts allowed.

The earlier tests had shown damage, but not its true depth.

Santiago had been exposed, over a long time, to substances administered to him without medical cause — and the malnutrition, the emergency injection during the illegal transport, the fall, and the sheer relentless stress of it all had accelerated a liver failure that had already, quietly, been underway inside him for longer than anyone had known.