Page 86 of Yours to Keep

CHAPTER 32

SULLIVAN

The fifth floor smelled like drywall and fresh paint. I stepped over a coil of electrical cable, ducking under a temporary plastic barrier while the echo of drills and nail guns bounced through the gutted hallway.

The space barely resembled the abandoned, outdated wing it had been a month ago. We’d stripped it down to steel framing, bare concrete, and exposed piping, the space now just waiting to become the flagship testing and imaging center Crowne Medical had promised.

I stopped beside a table with a blueprint pinned to it and I studied the layout again, tracing the future MRI suites, lab expansion, and AI diagnostics hub with the tip of my pen. This is the endgame.

Despite everything else that was going on, I had to keep reminding myself of that. Soon, this was going to become a state-of-the-art, advanced testing facility that would help so many people get the care they needed.

“Morning, Mr. Crowne,” one of the foremen called, wiping sweat off his brow with the back of his glove. “We’re about two days ahead of schedule on the framing.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” I said, turning away from the plans to stride toward him. “Any delays with the supplies?”

He chuckled. “Nah. Your procurement team is terrifying. Stuff shows up here before we even know we need it.”

I smirked. “Good. That’s what I pay them for, to read minds.”

He laughed again and gestured toward a half-finished corridor. “Do you want to see where they’re installing the reinforced flooring?”

I nodded. “Lead the way.”

We walked past stacks of sheetrock and rolling tool carts. He tapped a concrete slab with his boot. “We had to reinforce this entire section. Those scanners weigh a hell of a lot more than what used to be up here.”

“Sure, but they’ll catch potential problems earlier,” I said. “Tumors. Micro-fractures. Vascular abnormalities. All those fun things the current equipment frequently misses.”

He whistled under his breath. “That sounds fancy.”

I shrugged. “Within the next few years, it won’t be fancy anymore at all. It’ll be the standard of care, because that’s what is necessary to save lives.”

He nodded. “I’m all for anything that saves lives, even if the installation has been a pain.”

Short-term pain. Long-term reward. That’s why I’d come up here, to remind myself of the goal we were working toward.

Earlier today, I’d sat in my office and read through the performance reviews I’d received from every department head. Names had been highlighted and their hours analyzed, efficiency charts stacked in cold, unforgiving columns.

Some of those highlighted names were people who were simply redundant. Others were under-performing. There were entire shifts that were bloated from years of sentimental scheduling instead of operational need.

A few people would be losing their jobs. Others would only be losing hours. Not that it would be any consolation to those affected, but this floor would eventually save thousands of lives.

At the same time, I’d never enjoyed firing people. The first time I’d done it years ago, I’d gone home and stared at the ceiling all night, convinced I’d ruined someone’s family, and to be honest, I probably had, but I’d done it because it had been necessary. And now?

The guilt didn’t claw the same way anymore. It still existed, but it was dull, just background noise against a great purpose being achieved by their loss.

God, maybe Bree is right and I really have become a cold-hearted monster. Or maybe that’s just the price of success.

“Mr. Crowne?” a voice called from behind me.

I turned to see three Crowne Medical technicians stepping carefully around a pallet of light fixtures. Two men and one woman who were all wearing visitor badges and the kind of cautious excitement people got when they knew they were walking into the future.

“Tell me you’re the team moving into molecular diagnostics,” I said.

The woman grinned. “Is it that obvious?”

I nodded. “You’re staring at the ventilation system like it’s Christmas, so yeah. It was a little bit obvious.”

One of the guys laughed. “We’ve been working out of a converted storage room for two years. This is a dream by comparison. We can’t wait.”