Chapter 3 - The Stolen Heir
Clara sneaked back in immediately after Cameron's footsteps faded down the corridor.
She swiftly disconnected the bag of paralytic medication that Cameron had secretly attached to my IV line.
"He hid this behind the saline drip, but I am flushing your system with reversal agents right now," Clara whispered.
Within minutes, the terrifying numbness in my limbs began to recede, replaced by the painful sting of returning circulation.
I coughed violently, choking on the plastic ventilator tube stuck down my throat.
Clara expertly deflated the cuff and pulled the tube out in one smooth, practiced motion.
I took my first real breath in days, the cold hospital air burning my raw lungs.
"Where is my son?" I rasped, my voice sounding like broken glass.
Clara shook her head, her face pale with genuine fear.
"I do not know, but I stole this for you," she said, handing me a generic prepaid cell phone.
I grabbed the phone with trembling hands, my mind racing through all the possible places Cameron could have taken a newborn.
I quickly typed in the IP address for the hospital's secure internal medical database.
Because Cameron assumed I was brain-dead, he had not bothered to revoke my Chief of Emergency Medicine administrative credentials.
I logged into the system and ran a frantic search for my son's birth certificate and transfer logs.
The screen flashed red, indicating a highly classified transfer authorized by the hospital's executive board.
My baby was not sent to another pediatric hospital for specialized care.
He was signed over to a private, highly secretive genetic research facility on the edge of the city.
I pulled up the corporate registry for the facility, desperate to find a point of contact.
The name of the Vice President of Operations loaded on the screen, staring back at me in bold black letters.
It was Sophie, the same intern who had tortured me in the delivery room.
She was never a medical student.
She was a corporate spy placed in my hospital to ensure the baby was secured for her company.
My blood ran cold as I realized this entire pregnancy was a carefully orchestrated corporate transaction.
Cameron had sold our child to a genetics lab before he was even born.
I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, determined to walk out of this hospital and burn that lab to the ground.
Suddenly, the heavy metal door handle clicked and began to slowly turn.
Clara dived into the small supply closet, hiding in the shadows just in time.
I fell back onto the pillows, closing my eyes and forcing my breathing to remain shallow and rhythmic.
The door swung open, and soft, deliberate footsteps approached my bedside.
May you like
I peeked through my eyelashes, my heart stopping dead in my chest.
Sophie stood over me, smiling wickedly as she uncapped a massive syringe filled with a deadly dose of potassium chloride.
