Hmm...
I like the idea about the boss testing you or lying to eliminate a rival (Good way to branch out on the plot tree suddenly with dramatic results depending on your choice) (May develop on this ida further later on)
But I'm really not sure about the girlfriend\wife Idea...
Sentimentality has a habit of RUINING an otherwise good story if it is done ANYTHING LESS than AMAZINGLY WELL...
But maybe you form particular attachments along your spell with the cartel - this seems to be a bertter way of doing it to my mind
Hmm...
Now as regards my earlier hospital idea...
I'm not sure bringing a weapon into the hospital would be a good idea...
(Maybe you have a choice before the mission), and when you get there you see that as he is a high-security patient the police guarding the ward have erected a metal-detector-gate-thingy (Like you get at airports)
So then you might have to get in another way if you brought a weapon... And of course, it has to be silenced or all Hell breaks loose...
The scenario would have to be realistic... Maybe you can even just walk straight in, and if you know where to look, turn off the ECG (The beeping thing that monitors heart rate) and turn off his drip\life support and walk out
(But only after you see him being inspected (He's checked every now and again) and if this is spotted the hospital will go on alert and the guy wont be dead)
You get me?
As regards the "Kill your buddy and I'll buy you some pie" idea - Ill come back to that later
Dan ;D