The harsh fluorescent lighting of St. Jude’s Medical Center in Dallas flickered softly against the sterile white walls. Down the quiet hallway, room 412 sat shrouded in a heavy, suffocating silence. Inside, twenty-four-year-old Clara lay completely motionless in her hospital bed, her throat constrained by a rigid plastic neck brace and her pale face marked with severe violet bruising.
Esther: YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE MONEY AND RUN!
Clara: *Gasping* Esther... please... don’t do this...
Esther: I gave you a choice, Clara! I offered you two million dollars from your father's estate trust fund to sign those waiver papers and leave Texas forever!
Clara: *Wheezing* That inheritance... belongs to my brother and me... Dad wanted us to have the family company...
Esther: Your father is dead! And I am not letting a spoiled little girl ruin twenty years of my hard work!
Esther, dressed impeccably in a crisp white blazer and turquoise silk blouse, leaned over the metal bed railing, her eyes cold and devoid of any human warmth. Her manicured fingers reached down, slowly lifting a heavy white hospital pillow from the adjacent armchair.
Clara: *Panicked* What are you doing with that... Esther, stop!
Esther: NOW YOU GET NOTHING BUT A GRAVE!
Clara: NO! HELP ME!
Clara’s trembling right hand searched frantically across the bedsheets, her fingers locking onto the red plastic emergency nurse call button. She slammed her thumb against it repeatedly, causing a rapid electronic hospital alarm to beep loudly through the speaker system.
Esther: Nobody is coming to save you, Clara! The night staff is busy on the lower floor!
With a sudden, violent surge of force, Esther shoved the heavy pillow down over Clara’s bruised face, pinning her head against the mattress. Clara’s muffled screams echoed uselessly under the thick cotton as her frail body thrashed against the restraints, fighting desperately for one single breath of air.
Clara: *Muffled* AHHH! MMMM!
Esther: Press all the buttons you want! By the time anyone checks this room, you'll just be another tragic casualty of your car accident!
Suddenly, the heavy double doors of the hospital suite burst open with a loud, violent thud, revealing Clara's older brother, Julian, standing on the threshold in total horror.