CHAPTER 6: THE THIRTY-MINUTE COUNTDOWN
CHAPTER 6: THE THIRTY-MINUTE COUNTDOWN
The photograph slipped from the police officer’s hand.
It landed face-up on the polished hospital floor.
Nobody wanted to pick it up.
Because everyone understood what it meant.
The person who left it there was not watching from outside.
Not from a distant building.
Not through a hacked camera system.
They had been close enough to capture the exact moment.
Close enough to see their faces.
Close enough to know their fear.
Dr. Adrian Cole looked around the hallway.
The nurses.
The security guards.
The patients.
The doctors.
Any one of them could be connected.
The enemy was no longer hidden behind a screen.
The enemy was standing somewhere among them.
“Seal the building,” Adrian ordered.
The police officer nodded.
“Already done.”
“No.”
Adrian looked at the elevators.
“Seal every floor.”
The officer hesitated.
“Doctor, we don’t know who we’re dealing with.”
Adrian looked at the photograph.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“That’s exactly why we can’t assume anyone is safe.”
Security began moving.
Doors locked.
Elevators were disabled.
The hospital transformed from a place of healing into a fortress.
But Elena stood frozen.
Her eyes remained on the message.
CHOOSE THE MOTHER OR THE CHILD.
She placed one hand over her stomach.
Her breathing became uneven.
“He wants me to choose.”
Adrian turned toward her.
“No.”
She looked at him.
“He wants you to think you have a choice.”
Elena shook her head.
“You don’t understand.”
Her voice became quieter.
“Everywhere I go, people get hurt.”
Adrian stepped closer.
“That is not true.”
“Matthew disappeared because of me.”
“No.”
“Victoria attacked me because of me.”
“No.”
“Now this…”
Her voice broke.
“Maybe if I just give myself up…”
Adrian interrupted.
“Stop.”
The firmness in his voice surprised her.
“You are not a problem to be removed.”
Elena looked at him.
“You don’t know me.”
“No.”
Adrian looked at the medical records.
“But I know people.”
He glanced around the hallway.
“And I know someone is trying to make you believe you are worthless.”
A silence followed.
Then Victoria spoke.
“She’s right about one thing.”
Everyone turned.
Victoria slowly walked closer.
The security guards immediately blocked her.
Adrian raised his hand.
“Let her speak.”
Victoria looked at Elena.
“I spent months trying to find you.”
Elena’s expression hardened.
“To hurt me?”
Victoria looked away.
“At first.”
The honesty shocked everyone.
Victoria continued:
“I thought you were trying to destroy my family.”
Elena laughed bitterly.
“Your family destroyed itself.”
Victoria accepted the words.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“It did.”
The billionaire woman looked older suddenly.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
Like years of secrets had finally become too heavy.
“Matthew came to me before the crash.”
Adrian listened carefully.
“What did he say?”
Victoria looked at the floor.
“He told me he found out what his father was doing.”
“With Helix?”
She nodded.
“He wanted to expose everything.”
Elena whispered:
“And you stopped him.”
Victoria closed her eyes.
“Yes.”
The hallway became silent.
“Why?”
Victoria’s answer was almost impossible to hear.
“Because Thomas threatened me.”
Adrian frowned.
“You were his wife.”
Victoria looked at him.
“That was exactly why.”
She explained.
“People think being married to someone powerful means you are protected.”
A bitter smile appeared.
“Sometimes it means you are trapped closest to the monster.”
Nobody spoke.
Victoria continued.
“Thomas controlled everything.”
“The company?”
“Yes.”
“The money?”
“Yes.”
“Your life?”
She nodded.
“Yes.”
Elena looked at her.
“Then why attack me?”
Victoria’s eyes filled with regret.
“Because Thomas gave me one order.”
A pause.
“Find Matthew’s child.”
Everyone became still.
Victoria continued:
“He believed Matthew left behind a biological connection to the experiment.”
Adrian frowned.
“But how did he know Elena existed?”
Victoria looked toward the memory card.
“Because Matthew told him.”
Elena froze.
“What?”
Victoria looked at her.
“Matthew trusted the wrong person.”
The words hit Elena hard.
“Who?”
Before Victoria could answer, the hospital intercom activated.
Static filled the speakers.
Then a voice.
Calm.
Male.
Familiar.
Thomas.
“Thirty minutes have passed.”
Everyone looked at the clock.
Only ten minutes had passed.
Adrian’s face changed.
“He’s manipulating the time.”
Thomas continued through the speakers.
“I know you are all trying to understand.”
A pause.
“That is what humans do.”
His voice was almost gentle.
“They search for reasons.”
The speakers crackled.
“But reasons do not matter.”
A screen near the reception desk turned on.
Thomas appeared again.
This time, he was inside the hospital.
Everyone froze.
The video showed a security camera feed.
Thomas was walking through a lower level of the building.
A restricted medical area.
“How did he get inside?”
The security officer checked the cameras.
Then went pale.
“He has access.”
Adrian looked at Victoria.
“Of course he does.”
Thomas continued.
“Doctor Cole.”
Adrian looked at the screen.
“You have spent your life saving people.”
A pause.
“But you cannot save everyone.”
The screen changed.
A hospital room appeared.
Inside was a patient.
Covered in blankets.
A person connected to machines.
Elena stared.
Because she recognized the room.
“No…”
Adrian looked at her.
“Who is that?”
Her face lost all color.
“That’s…”
She could barely speak.
“That’s Matthew.”
The room erupted.
Matthew was alive.
Inside the hospital.
Somewhere beneath them.
Thomas continued.
“You want the truth?”
The camera moved closer.
Matthew’s unconscious face appeared.
“He is alive because of me.”
Elena stepped toward the screen.
“Matthew!”
No response.
Thomas smiled.
“He survived because Project Phoenix worked.”
Nora suddenly spoke.
“Where is that room?”
Everyone looked at her.
She stared at the screen.
Her expression was pure fear.
“I know that facility.”
Adrian turned.
“You do?”
Nora nodded.
“That is not a hospital room.”
A pause.
“That is a laboratory.”
The speakers continued.
Thomas’ voice became colder.
“And now you have a decision.”
The screen split into two images.
On one side:
Matthew.
On the other:
Elena.
A countdown appeared.
29:59
Thomas spoke.
“Bring me Elena.”
The countdown began.
29:58
“Or I shut down Matthew’s life support.”
Elena looked at the screen.
Her entire body shook.
“No…”
Adrian stepped beside her.
“We’ll find him.”
Thomas laughed softly.
“You still think this is about rescue.”
The screen zoomed in.
“This is about ownership.”
The countdown continued.
29:41
Thomas looked directly into the camera.
“Your time has started.”
The screen went black.
Nobody moved.
Then Nora whispered something that made Adrian’s blood run cold.
“There is another way.”
Everyone turned.
Adrian looked at her.
“What way?”
Nora looked at Elena’s stomach.
“The baby.”
Silence.
“What about the baby?”
Nora swallowed.
“The genetic markers inside the child can unlock the entire Project Phoenix database.”
Elena stepped back.
“You mean he wants my baby because…”
Nora nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
A pause.
“Because your child is the key.”
The countdown continued.
29:10
And somewhere beneath the hospital…
Matthew Ashford opened his eyes.
For the first time in eight months.
He was awake.
But he was not alone.
Standing beside his bed was Thomas Ashford.
His father.
The man everyone thought was dead.
Thomas smiled.
“Welcome back, son.”
Matthew tried to move.
But the machines held him down.
“Where is Elena?”
Thomas leaned closer.
“That is the question.”
A pause.
“The question is whether she comes to save you…”
His smile faded.
May you like
“…or whether she finally realizes you were the reason her nightmare began.”
TO BE CONTINUED...
