CHAPTER 9 THE DOCTOR'S BETRAYAL
Dr. Emily Carter stood motionless in the dim hospital corridor, her phone still clutched tightly in her hand.
Her heartbeat thundered in her ears.
She had spent fifteen years saving lives.
Delivering babies.
Comforting frightened parents.
Watching families experience the happiest moments of their lives.
Never once had she imagined she would become part of something like this.
Yet tonight...
There was no turning back.
She slipped the phone into her pocket and walked toward the medication room.
Inside, she unlocked a small cabinet reserved for emergency sedatives.
Her fingers hovered over a syringe.
Then stopped.
She looked at her own reflection in the glass.
"What have I become..."
A voice behind her answered.
"Someone trying to survive."
Emily spun around.
The mysterious lawyer who had visited Isabella earlier stood calmly in the doorway.
Still wearing the same gray suit.
Still carrying the same leather briefcase.
"You shouldn't be here," Emily whispered.
"I go wherever Genesis requires."
He placed a sealed envelope on the counter.
"Your final instructions."
Emily didn't touch it.
"I won't hurt the baby."
"You won't have to."
"And Khloe?"
The lawyer's expression never changed.
"She knows too much."
Emily stared at him.
"You promised no one would die."
"I promised nothing."
Silence filled the room.
The lawyer turned to leave.
Just before stepping through the doorway, he spoke without looking back.
"You have exactly one hour."
"If Khloe is still inside this hospital..."
"...Protocol Four begins."
The door clicked shut.
Emily looked down at the envelope.
Her hands were shaking.
Elsewhere...
Richard Lawson sat alone inside the hospital's digital forensics office.
Every monitor displayed surveillance footage.
Hundreds of hours.
Dozens of camera angles.
He replayed the attack frame by frame.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Something bothered him.
He couldn't explain it.
Then...
He froze the footage one frame before Isabella shoved Khloe.
Richard leaned closer.
Khloe wasn't looking at Isabella.
She was staring...
At the hidden service door.
Not with surprise.
With fear.
She had expected someone else to enter.
Richard whispered,
"You weren't afraid of Isabella..."
"You were waiting for someone."
He immediately called Marcus.
"You need to see this."
Marcus arrived two minutes later.
Richard replayed the footage.
"Watch Khloe's eyes."
Marcus frowned.
"I've watched this ten times."
"Watch again."
The video rolled.
Isabella shouted.
Khloe stepped backward.
But her gaze never left Isabella.
Instead...
It remained fixed on the concealed wall panel.
Marcus slowly understood.
"She wasn't watching the attack."
Richard nodded.
"She was watching the door."
"Meaning?"
"She believed someone else was coming."
Marcus's phone vibrated.
Another unknown number.
This time...
No video.
Just six words.
Ask your wife about Saint Mary's.
Marcus looked toward the ICU.
Enough secrets.
Enough lies.
He walked out immediately.
Khloe was awake when Marcus entered.
She already knew why he had come.
"You saw the message."
Marcus stopped.
"You knew?"
Khloe smiled sadly.
"They always know."
Marcus closed the door.
"No more hiding."
"What do you want to know?"
"Everything."
Silence.
Finally...
Khloe nodded.
"When I was six years old..."
"I lived at Saint Mary's Children's Home."
Marcus's eyes widened.
"You were an orphan?"
"For a while."
"What does that mean?"
Khloe looked away.
"I don't remember my parents."
"I don't remember how I got there."
"I only remember..."
She stopped speaking.
Marcus gently took her hand.
"What do you remember?"
Khloe's breathing became uneven.
"There was another child."
"A little boy."
"He was always sick."
"The nuns kept him separated from everyone."
Marcus frowned.
"What was his name?"
Khloe whispered,
"They never gave him one."
"They called him..."
"...Number Twelve."
Richard, who had quietly entered moments earlier, nearly dropped the tablet in his hands.
Number Twelve.
He had seen that name before.
Not in an orphanage.
Inside the classified Genesis files.
Subject 12.
Male.
Age unknown.
Status...
Missing.
Richard slowly looked at Marcus.
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"I think..."
"...you were that boy."
Marcus felt the blood drain from his face.
"No."
Khloe stared at him.
Then...
Very slowly...
She nodded.
"I recognized you the first day we met."
Marcus couldn't breathe.
"What?"
"I remembered your eyes."
"The same blue eyes."
"The same scar behind your left ear."
Marcus instinctively touched the small scar hidden beneath his hair.
One he had carried his entire life.
One his adoptive parents could never explain.
Khloe's tears finally spilled over.
"I wanted to tell you..."
"So many times."
"But every child who spoke about Saint Mary's..."
"...disappeared."
The room fell completely silent.
Then...
The heart monitor beside Khloe suddenly emitted one sharp tone.
Not an alarm.
A wireless connection notification.
Richard looked at it immediately.
"That's impossible."
"What?"
"The monitor just paired with another device."
Marcus frowned.
"Can someone hack a heart monitor?"
Richard was already tracing the signal.
His expression changed instantly.
"It isn't hacking us."
"It's transmitting."
"To where?"
Richard's fingers stopped moving.
The destination appeared on-screen.
ROOM 914.
Marcus blinked.
"There is no Room 914."
Dr. Bennett, who had just entered, looked at the floor plan.
His face turned pale.
"There used to be."
Everyone turned toward him.
"What do you mean?"
Dr. Bennett swallowed hard.
"Room 914..."
"...was sealed eighteen years ago."
"After the fire."
Marcus's pulse quickened.
"The fire at Saint Mary's?"
Dr. Bennett nodded.
"No."
"The fire..."
"...inside this hospital."
Before anyone could ask another question...
Every light on the ninth floor suddenly went out.
The emergency generator failed.
For the first time in the hospital's history...
The building was plunged into complete darkness.
Somewhere in that darkness...
A child laughed.
Very softly.
Then a little boy's voice echoed through the corridor:
May you like
"Number Twelve... they're finally coming back for you."
END OF CHAPTER 9
