The Medical Conspiracy

1
On the eve of my drug launch, I was dragged into an alley by twelve men. They left me with prolapsed intestines and twisted limbs.
My brother Josh vowed to imprison my attackers, while my best friend Elizabeth arranged for elite medics to save me.
But outside the ER, I heard Elizabeth hesitate: "Was hiring those men to steal Aria's research too far?"
Josh glared at me, conflicted. "Aria bullies Lily, who's fragile as an adoptee. I won't let anyone—not even my sister—stand in her way." His voice dropped. "Once Lily wins the National Medical Prize, I'll make it up to Aria."
But Josh, I thought, you've already broken me.
A tear fell. This family of lies—I was done with it.
…
The doctor confirmed again, his tone urgent. “Mr. Crawford, are you absolutely certain? No surgery? In Miss Crawford’s condition, any further delay will lead to permanent disability. She could be paralyzed, hooked up to a urostomy bag for life.”
Josh didn’t hesitate. “Don’t do it.”
Elizabeth tried to reason with him. “Honey, look at her. Her body is ruined. There’s no way she can present the new drug tomorrow. She’s your own sister. Are you really going to let her become a cripple?”
“Then let her be a cripple!” he snapped. “Without her hands, she’ll finally stop trying to outshine Lily. I’ll support her for the rest of her life.”
He then leaned over me, gently wiping the sweat from my brow with a towel, his voice a disarming whisper of affection. “I promised Lily she would win this prize, that she would have her moment in the sun. Aria needs to be completely broken for Lily to feel secure.”
Elizabeth sighed, then turned to the doctor, her tone practiced and firm. “Just give her something for the pain. Use the best painkillers you have. Make sure she doesn't feel a thing.”
Hidden from their view, my body trembled uncontrollably as a torrent of hopeless tears soaked my pillow.
This wasn't some random, tragic accident. It was a calculated act of cruelty, orchestrated by the brother I trusted most in the world, all to eliminate me for the sake of Lily, our adopted sister.
And Elizabeth, the woman I considered my other half, was his accomplice.
The pain that ripped through my broken body was nothing compared to the agony shredding my heart.
Elizabeth noticed my tear-soaked pillow. Her own eyes welled up, and a tear splashed onto the back of my hand. “Aria? Oh, Aria, it’s me, it’s Elizabeth. Did the pain wake you? Don’t be scared, I’m right here.”
She spun on the doctors, her voice sharp with feigned fury. “What kind of drugs are you giving her? Be careful! Don’t touch her wounds! Can’t you see how much pain she’s in?”
Josh, for his part, was a portrait of rage and grief. A six-foot-tall man, he buried his face in his hands, his shoulders shaking with sobs, as if he’d gladly take the pain himself.
He cursed through clenched teeth, “How dare they do this to my sister. Prison is too good for those bastards. I should have them torn limb from limb and thrown to the sharks.”
Then, he looked at me, his eyes swimming with guilt. “Aria, I’ve already called the best specialists in the country. There was an accident on the road, but they’ll be here by tomorrow morning at the latest…”
He squeezed my hand. “Don’t you worry. I’ll move heaven and earth to get you healed, to get you back in the lab, developing your medicines.”
I watched his masterful performance, my own senses numb, and whispered weakly, “Josh… am I really going to be okay?”
“You will,” he declared, his voice booming. “I swear you will.”
But his eyes wouldn't meet mine.
He knew. He knew the wounds he had inflicted himself were too deep for me to ever truly recover from. To pave the way for Lily, the brother who had sworn at our parents' graveside to protect me forever had just personally pushed me off a cliff.
And Elizabeth, my sister in all but blood, had chosen to betray me for the same manipulative girl who had driven a wedge between us all.
In that moment, I couldn’t tell who was truly Josh’s sister, or who had been Elizabeth’s inseparable best friend for twelve years.
I had even been the one to bring them together, to set up their first date.
And this was their repayment: a slow, agonizing death by a thousand cuts of lies and deceit.
My heart turned to ash. I said nothing more.
A nurse approached with antiseptic. Looking at my horrifically injured lower body and twisted limbs, she couldn't hide her pity. “Miss Crawford, the specialists aren't here yet. We just need to disinfect your wounds. Try to bear with it.”
The best anesthetic in the world couldn't block out the searing pain. I bit down so hard on my lip that my mouth filled with the coppery taste of blood.
But the physical torment was a fraction of the agony in my soul.
Elizabeth watched, her hand clamped over her mouth, her eyes instantly red and raw.
Josh shot to his feet, fists clenched, and stalked out of the room, his back trembling.
Their concern was so real, so convincing. But I couldn't feel a single drop of its warmth.

2
When I woke again, it was the next day. I could hear Josh and Elizabeth talking just outside my room.
“Honey, Aria’s in such bad shape,” Elizabeth said. “Are you still going to have the reporters come to the hospital? To expose her for… you know, being promiscuous?”
Josh was quiet for a long moment before his voice came back, firm and resolute.
“Yes. She’s already been sullied, what’s a little more? The awards committee is full of puritans; they can't stand a hint of moral scandal. Besides, this will temper her spirit. It’s for her own good.”
He added, his voice low and meticulous, “Just make sure the specialists are ready. The moment the reporters leave, they start the surgery.”
Elizabeth quickly agreed.
I lay in bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, a hollow shell. Hot tears streamed from my eyes.
Josh knew. He knew I’d been swapped at birth, that I’d grown up in poverty and hardship. He knew I’d worked ten times harder than anyone else to become a pharmaceutical researcher.
And with a few careless words, he was about to destroy everything I had ever worked for.
If I had known that returning to my real family would be a fate worse than death, I would have rather died at the hands of my abusive adoptive mother.
An hour later, the door to my room burst open. A swarm of reporters, men and women, poured in like vampires sensing blood. They brandished their long-lens cameras and microphones, a forest of black metal and eager faces.
My face went white with terror. I couldn’t move.
“Miss Crawford! We hear you partied so hard with multiple partners you landed yourself in the hospital. Would you call this reaping what you sow? How do you feel right now?”
“Miss Crawford, with a sex life like that, did you sleep your way to the top of your field?”
“Miss Crawford, is it true you can't even move? That you’re a complete cripple now? Have you lost control of your bowels?”
As he asked the last question, the reporter lunged forward and ripped away the thin blanket covering my body.
My injuries were too severe for clothes.
A tidal wave of shame washed over me. My breath hitched, and I gasped for air, a strangled, painful sound.
“Oh my god, that’s disgusting. Look at all those wounds.”
“Tsk, tsk, her limbs are completely deformed. Get a shot of that! This is gold.”
Their whispers of disgust and contempt were knives in my chest. I couldn’t stop the tears from falling, hot and heavy on my cheeks.
“Miss Crawford, you’re not answering. Is it because we hit the nail on the head? Were you just born a slut?”
Seeing my panicked, helpless state, they shoved a camera right in my face and started a live broadcast. “Renowned pharmaceutical researcher Aria Crawford, whose promiscuous private life makes her a poster child for depravity. A warning to the public: cherish your bodies, or you might end up a cripple just like her.”
I was like a clown, stripped naked for their amusement, unable to even curl into a ball to hide my shame. I could only lie there as the flashes popped, capturing my most broken, humiliating moments for the world to see.
“What the hell are you doing! Who let you in here!”
Josh charged into the room, roaring at them to get out.
Elizabeth stripped off her own coat and wrapped it tightly around me, her own tears falling freely. “Security! Are you all dead? How could you let these vultures in!”
They played their parts so well.
So well it made me sick.
My body shook with a tremor I couldn't control.
Josh knelt before me, taking my ice-cold hand in his, his eyes filled with a carefully crafted guilt. “Aria, I’m so sorry. It’s my fault. I didn’t protect you, and these jackals found a way in. Don’t be afraid, I’ll kill the story. I won’t let them print a single word. I swear, I will never let you suffer another moment of pain.”
What a joke.
The man who swore I would never suffer again had just subjected me to the greatest humiliation of my life.
He knew better than anyone that the reporters already had what they came for.
I would be nailed to a public cross of shame, my reputation in tatters. I would live the rest of my life like a rat in the gutter, just as he wanted, forever crushed under his heel.
For Lily, the two people I loved most had utterly destroyed me.
The shock was too much. My shattered body gave out, and I blacked out.
As darkness consumed me, I heard Josh’s panicked shouts and the sound of the waiting specialists rushing into the room.
“We waited too long! Her intestines are necrotic. We’ll have to resect this entire section. Her limbs… even if we fix them, she’ll likely never have the fine motor skills for lab work again. She’ll be in a wheelchair. The situation is critical. We’ve missed the optimal window for treatment. The surgery only has a fifty-percent chance of success.”
Josh’s voice was laced with disbelief. “What are you talking about? You have to save her! I don’t care what it costs.”
Through it all, he never let go of my hand, his choked sobs echoing in the encroaching darkness. “Aria, you have to pull through. I can’t lose you, Aria. I can’t lose you.”
Elizabeth was weeping hysterically. “Aria, we made a promise! We were supposed to be each other’s maids of honor! You can’t leave me!”
I closed my eyes, my heart a dead, gray cinder.

3
When I opened my eyes again, I was back in a private room.
My entire body was swathed in bandages, except for my left hand, which had sustained the least damage.
Elizabeth was sitting by my bedside. When she saw I was awake, she burst into tears of joy. “Aria! You’re finally awake! Does anywhere hurt? Are you hungry? Do you want some water?”
Her usual care was there, but beneath it was a thin layer of cautious guilt.
I almost laughed.
They were the ones who had mutilated me, body and soul. Now that they had what they wanted, who was this performance for?
I managed a weak smile, my lips cracked and dry. “You should get some sleep, Elizabeth. You have dark circles under your eyes.”
Seeing my calm demeanor, she relaxed, lying down on the cot next to my bed and falling asleep almost instantly.
Once she was breathing evenly, I reached for her phone on the nightstand.
I unlocked it, and the screen lit up with her wallpaper: a photo of the three of them. Lily stood between Josh and Elizabeth, beaming, her arms linked with each of theirs.
I opened her photo gallery.
Nearly ten thousand pictures. A dense mosaic of their lives together—trips, parties, candid moments.
In one video, Elizabeth presented a three-tiered, homemade cake to Lily, playfully dabbing a bit of frosting on her nose. In another, Josh placed a princess tiara on Lily’s head, vowing to make his “one and only sister” the happiest girl in the world.
And the photos of us? The twelve years of memories—studying together, chasing boy bands, running through sunsets, crying on each other’s shoulders, promising to live in the same nursing home when we were old—the pictures Elizabeth had sworn to cherish forever, were now all sitting in her recently deleted folder. Not a single one had been spared.
Tears blurred my vision. The pain in my chest was sharp, like a physical blow.
I didn’t understand. How could a bond so strong just… vanish?

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