Chapter 10 - THE OPERATING ROOM BELOW THE TOWER
My doctors refused to discharge me.
I left anyway.
A nurse secured my incision.
Lily insisted on coming.
“You cannot walk into an underground surgical suite alone.”
My grandfather came too.
Federal agents entered Vale Tower through three service points.
Julian permitted only me, Theodore, and Lily to descend.
He threatened to begin surgery if he detected armed officers near the laboratory.
The elevator opened beneath the parking structure.
White lights illuminated a long corridor.
The walls carried faded Vale Medical Research logos.
I had never seen the place.
My grandfather had tried to bury this chapter of the family.
Julian had preserved it.
Noah’s cries reached me before the doors opened.
Weak.
Thin.
Alive.
I moved faster.
Pain pulled across my abdomen.
Lily held my arm.
The laboratory doors opened.
Dr. Pierce stood beside a surgical table.
Noah lay inside a heated bassinet.
His body looked impossibly small beneath the lights.
Julian wore blue surgical clothing.
A transparent container held the experimental valve.
My grandfather stared at his son.
“Release the child.”
Julian looked at the consent form.
“Emma agreed.”
“Only if I am present,” I said.
“I am present.”
“Now I withdraw consent.”
Julian’s face hardened.
“You do not understand his condition.”
“I understand that you kidnapped him.”
“I understand that you forged medical necessity.”
“I understand that you need his body to prove your invention works.”
Julian looked toward my grandfather.
“She has your arrogance.”
“No,” Theodore replied.
“She has the courage you mistook for arrogance.”
Dr. Pierce reached toward Noah’s medication line.
Lily stepped between them.
“What are you giving him?”
“A sedative.”
“The dose is too high.”
Pierce ignored her.
Lily struck the tray from his hand.
Metal instruments scattered across the floor.
Julian moved toward Noah.
I reached the bassinet first.
He grabbed my wrist.
My grandfather struck Julian’s arm with his cane.
Federal agents heard the struggle through Lily’s hidden transmitter.
The laboratory doors exploded inward.
Pierce pulled a handgun from beneath the surgical cart.
He aimed at my grandfather.
Grant appeared behind him.
Everyone froze.
He wore a jail transport uniform.
Blood marked one side of his face.
He had escaped during transfer with help from Derek Shaw.
Grant held another gun.
For one terrible second, I thought he had come to help Julian.
Then he aimed at Pierce.
“Step away from my son.”
Pierce laughed.
“You called them a burden.”
Grant’s hand shook.
“I was wrong.”
“You caused their early birth.”
“I know.”
“You do not get to become a father now.”
May you like
Pierce fired.
Grant threw himself between the bullet and Noah’s bassinet.
