Banished Before Dawn

Thorne was summoned just before 7 p.m.

The hospital’s fluorescent lights buzzed faintly as the late afternoon faded toward evening. Dr. Thorne’s office, cluttered with half-empty coffee cups and stacks of patient charts, felt more like a throne room where he ruled with a sneer and a touch of cruelty.

He’d barely finished dictating a note when the message came through — “Dr. Mercer wants to see y