Beneath the White Coat

Episode Six: The Code Inside the Chart

The hospital’s IT room was never silent. Even at midnight, it hummed with low servers and blinking lights. But tonight, it felt like a crime scene.

Tobe crouched beside the terminal, bypassing the security layers he’d helped install years ago as part of the digital upgrade team.

Amara stood behind him, arms crossed, every nerve tight.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this,” she said.

“You wanted Project NH-47,” Tobe replied. “This is where we’ll find it… if it still exists.”

He plugged in the USB.

The system hesitated. Then blinked once.

A search bar appeared.

“Try the code on Emeka’s chart,” she said.

Tobe typed: NH-47-AZ

Silence. Then—

Restricted Research Protocol. Level 4 Access Required.

Beneath it, a file tree:

NH-47A: Cardiac Trial (Active)

NH-47B: Post-Mortem Notes (Sealed)

NH-47C: Subject List (Encrypted)

Amara stared. “He was part of a cardiac trial?”

“No. He was used as one,” Tobe said.

He clicked on “Subject List.”

Access Denied.

“Try a backdoor,” Amara whispered. “Use admin credentials.”

He did. The screen flickered.

Then opened.

The first name on the subject list:

EMEKA OWOLABI — DECEASED

Second:

LOIS MUNACHI — DECEASED

Third:

TOBE NWACHUKWU — ACTIVE

Fourth:

AMARA EZE — ACTIVE

They froze.

Amara’s voice broke. “That’s… that’s not possible.”

Tobe sat back. “We’re not just investigating this trial.”

“We’re inside it.”

She reached out and pulled the mouse from his hand, scrolling further.

Thirty-eight names. Sixteen marked deceased.

No mention of consent. No recorded diagnoses. Just names. Status. Observation notes.

She closed the screen with a shaking hand.

“This isn’t just unethical,” she said. “It’s criminal.”

Tobe looked at her, his voice low. “They’re monitoring us. Every blood test. Every scan. Everything we’ve been through this year…”

Amara stepped back, dizzy. The diagnosis that had haunted her, the strange blood results — it wasn’t random.

“What if they’ve been… manipulating our treatment?” she whispered.

A long silence followed.

Then Tobe’s voice, firm. “We end this. Now.”

Amara nodded slowly. “Then we stop being doctors who follow the rules.”

He met her gaze. “We become the ones who break them… to save others.”

Outside, the hospital lights flickered once.

Inside, something else had flickered awake in both of them.

Not just fear.

Resolve.