CHAPTER 8 "I Remember Everything."
CHAPTER 8
"I Remember Everything."
Alex reached the ICU doors just as a nurse stepped into his path.
"You can't go in yet."
"My wife is awake."
"I know."
"Please..."
The desperation in his voice made several people in the hallway turn their heads.
"I just need one minute."
The nurse hesitated.
Then looked toward Dr. Amelia Carter.
Dr. Carter slowly shook her head.
"Not yet."
Alex's shoulders slumped.
"What if..."
"...what if she never wants to see me again?"
Dr. Carter answered without emotion.
"That's a consequence you'll have to live with."
Inside the ICU...
Lucy blinked against the harsh lights.
Everything was blurry.
The ceiling.
The machines.
The masked faces surrounding her.
Her throat burned.
She tried to speak.
Nothing came out.
A nurse immediately leaned closer.
"Don't force it."
"You've been intubated."
Lucy closed her eyes for a moment.
Fragments of memory rushed back.
The elevator.
The heat.
Her daughter's weak kicks.
Alex running past her.
Valerie in his arms.
The wedding ring.
The rookie firefighter.
Then...
Darkness.
A tear slid silently across her cheek.
Dr. Carter gently squeezed her hand.
"Lucy..."
"If you can hear me..."
"Blink once."
Lucy blinked.
"Do you know where you are?"
Another blink.
"Do you remember what happened?"
This time...
Lucy didn't blink.
She slowly nodded.
Every doctor in the room exchanged uneasy glances.
Memory loss would have been easier.
Instead...
She remembered everything.
Outside...
Alex stood frozen as Dr. Carter finally emerged.
"Can I see her?"
Dr. Carter studied him for several long seconds.
"She regained full awareness."
Alex exhaled in relief.
"But..."
The doctor's next sentence stopped him cold.
"She specifically requested that you not enter her room."
Alex stared.
"What?"
"Those were her first written words."
Dr. Carter handed him a small notepad.
The handwriting was shaky.
Uneven.
But unmistakably Lucy's.
DO NOT LET MY HUSBAND IN.
Alex felt his knees weaken.
"No..."
Dr. Carter continued.
"She asked for only three people."
"Me."
"Nurse Olivia."
"And Ethan Brooks."
"The rookie?"
Alex whispered.
Dr. Carter nodded.
"She asked for him by name."
Ethan arrived ten minutes later.
He looked confused as he entered the ICU.
Lucy smiled weakly when she saw him.
It was the first smile anyone had seen since the rescue.
"Hi..."
Her voice was barely audible.
Ethan stepped closer.
"I'm glad you're awake."
Lucy looked at the empty space on her finger.
"My ring..."
Ethan lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
"I gave it to Lieutenant Davis."
Lucy closed her eyes.
"I know."
"I wanted you to."
There was no bitterness in her voice anymore.
Only exhaustion.
"Ethan..."
"I need you to do something for me."
"Anything."
Lucy glanced toward the closed ICU door.
"Don't let Alex know..."
"...about the key."
Ethan frowned.
"You know about it?"
A faint smile appeared.
"I've known about it..."
"...for seven years."
Outside the room...
Benjamin Whitmore overheard enough to stop breathing.
Seven years.
That meant Lucy hadn't hidden the key after marrying Alex.
She had hidden it long before.
Exactly as someone had instructed her.
Benjamin whispered to himself,
"So..."
"You remembered."
Back inside...
Lucy motioned for Ethan to come closer.
"There are people..."
"...who will come looking for it."
"The key?"
She nodded.
"They'll pretend they're helping."
"They'll lie."
"They'll threaten."
"They may even kill."
Ethan stared at her.
"What does it open?"
Lucy looked toward the window.
Her eyes filled with a fear that had nothing to do with the elevator.
"I don't know."
Ethan blinked.
"You don't know?"
"My mother hid it."
"Before she died."
"She told me..."
Lucy struggled to breathe.
"...never open it unless someone betrays me."
Ethan felt chills crawl up his spine.
"Did she tell you why?"
Lucy slowly shook her head.
"No."
"She only said..."
Her voice broke.
"...the truth destroys families."
At that same moment...
Detective Rachel Morgan rushed into the hallway carrying a laptop.
She found Captain Marcus Reynolds immediately.
"You need to see this."
Marcus frowned.
"What is it?"
"The department store security footage."
She opened the video.
The timestamp read 1:58 PM.
Nine minutes before the elevator became trapped.
People stepped into the elevator one by one.
The elderly man.
The little boy.
Two college students.
Lucy.
Then Valerie.
Marcus watched carefully.
Nothing unusual.
Until the final person entered.
A man wearing a gray baseball cap.
His face hidden.
He stood beside the control panel.
Just before the elevator doors closed...
He reached into his pocket.
Pressed something against the emergency control box.
A tiny red light flashed once.
Then disappeared.
The doors closed.
The video ended.
Marcus looked at Rachel.
"Freeze that frame."
She did.
The man's wrist became visible.
Tattooed on the inside...
Was a black raven.
Rachel quietly said,
"We checked maintenance records."
"The elevator didn't malfunction."
Marcus stared at the screen.
"What are you saying?"
Rachel met his eyes.
"I'm saying..."
"...someone trapped them in there on purpose."
At that exact second, every light in the ICU wing flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the entire floor plunged into darkness.
Emergency alarms erupted throughout the hospital.
Somewhere in the darkness...
A woman screamed.
Then came the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.
May you like
BANG!
End of Chapter 8
