Two Hours to Save a National Hero

At the high-speed train station security checkpoint, a security officer stops me.

"What's inside the case?" he asks.

"A living donor heart. It's scheduled for transplant in two hours," I reply and hand over the emergency transit pass.

After verifying the documents, the officer is about to let me pass when a hand suddenly shoots out from behind and grabs the case.

"He can't go! That case contains illegal stuff!"

I turn around.

To my shock, it's my brother-in-law, Edward Austin.

Pointing at me, he shouts, "Officer, I'd like to report him! He's my brother-in-law. There isn't anything medical-related in that case. It's drugs he bought on the black market. He's planning to use his status as a doctor to smuggle them out and sell them!"

Armed police officers immediately surround me with their weapons lowered into ready positions.

My eyes redden with panic. "Have you lost your mind, Edward? There's a donor heart in here! The recipient only has two hours left to live!"

He rolls his eyes and sneers. "Oh, spare me the act. My sister says you've been acting suspiciously lately. You're obviously up to something. If you've got nothing to hide, why don't you open it right here in front of everyone?"

Everyone within the vicinity falls silent.

The leading police officer steps forward with a stern expression. "Please cooperate with the inspection. Open the case immediately."

I glance at the countdown timer on my watch. My back becomes drenched with cold sweat.

If the heart is contaminated, then Michael Ellis—the national hero whose life depends on this transplant—will not survive this.

"Officer, please! You cannot open this container!" I yelled, clutching the cooler to my chest with one hand while thrusting the emergency transit pass toward the police officer with the other.

"Look! This is emergency clearance certificate for organ transport issued by the Department of Health. It has the official seal!

"There is a donor heart inside, kept at a constant 39.2 degrees Fahrenheit. If it's exposed to the air for more than three minutes, the cardiac cells will die. There's no reversing it!"

The lead officer took the permit and flipped it over a couple of times. His expression softened.

He was just about to let me through when my brother-in-law Edward Austin's shrill voice rang out again. "It's fake! The permit is a fake!"

He turned right around to face the crowd of onlookers in the waiting area. "Everyone, look at this guy! He's using a doctor's disguise to smuggle drugs!

"There's no heart in that box! It's meth! Meth disguised as medical cargo! I'm his brother-in-law! I saw him packing this stuff at home in the middle of the night with my own eyes!"

The crowd went into an instant frenzy.

Some pulled out their phones to take photos, while others scrambled back, pulling their kids away.

"A drug smuggler? Lock him up!"

"People will do absolutely anything for money these days!"

"Don't let him get away!"

I was shaking with pure rage.

"Edward, you're full of shit! When did I ever pack anything at home? This heart was removed in surgery at 3:00 am this morning!"

Edward completely ignored me.

Determined to stop me from leaving, he whipped out his phone and started livestreaming right in my face.

"Look at this, everyone," he said, forcing a look of utter heartbreak for the camera.

"This is my brother-in-law, Conner Randall, chief of the organ transplant department at Galdoria Hospital. He's a lifesaver on the outside but a drug smuggler and organ trafficker behind closed doors! I don't care what it takes. I'm stopping him right here today!"

Viewers flooded into the live stream, and comments started flooding in.

"Corrupt doctor! Call the cops!"

"Human trafficker! Organ thief! Rot in hell!"

"Kudos to you for exposing him!"

Noticing the situation spiral out of control, I stomped my feet in sheer panic. "Edward, turn that stream off! This is defamation! You can go to jail for this!"

Edward raised his phone even higher, and his voice grew sharper. "Defamation? Then open the box and prove it to everyone! You won't open it? That's because you're guilty!"

That did it. The officer's demeanor changed instantly.

Drug smuggling, organ trafficking, and a named whistleblower report. Any single one of those was too big for him to just let me through.

"Mr. Randall, please come with us for further investigation."

"No!" I held the cooler even tighter.

"The box cannot leave the cold chain! Look into me all you want, but you have to let this box go!"