Chapter 7 - The Helipad
Adrian scooped Claire firmly by the waist, practically carrying her as they sprinted toward the emergency stairwell.
The hospital's alarm system finally blared to life, casting strobing red emergency lights across the sterile white walls.
They bypassed the slow elevators, desperately climbing the five flights of concrete stairs leading to the roof access doors.
Claire’s lungs burned with every breath, and the surgical staples in her abdomen felt like hot knives tearing her skin apart.
Adrian kicked the heavy steel roof door entirely off its rusted hinges with one massive, adrenaline-fueled strike.
They burst out onto the sprawling hospital roof, instantly hit by the freezing, torrential rain of a massive thunderstorm.
The deafening roar of a private military-grade helicopter completely drowned out the blaring hospital alarms below.
The helicopter's massive rotor blades whipped the freezing rain into a blinding, painful frenzy.
Standing near the open side door of the sleek black aircraft was Victoria Vale, looking perfectly composed despite the storm.
Two heavily armed private medical contractors were carefully loading the specialized portable incubators into the cabin.
Claire screamed the names of her children, rushing blindly forward across the slippery, wet tarmac.
Adrian grabbed her arm, forcefully pulling her safely behind a large metal air conditioning unit as a contractor raised his rifle.
Adrian did not hide from the heavily armed men.
He stepped out from cover and walked directly into the blinding spotlight of the helicopter.
He pointed his stolen pistol directly at the chest of the pilot sitting in the cockpit.
He screamed over the roaring engine, invoking his absolute authority as the chief of medicine and majority shareholder of the hospital.
He ordered the terrified pilot to immediately cut the engines or face federal kidnapping charges.
The pilot hesitated, looking nervously between the enraged billionaire doctor and the icy matriarch of the Vale family.
Slowly, the pilot reached up and flipped the master kill switch, causing the massive rotor blades to instantly begin slowing down.
Victoria turned around, her perfect posture entirely unaffected by the sudden halt of her grand escape plan.
She did not look angry, nor did she look panicked by her son's violent intervention.
She calmly reached into the pocket of her expensive trench coat and pulled out a small, silver revolver.
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Without a single moment of hesitation or motherly affection, Victoria aimed the gun directly at Adrian's chest.
She cocked the hammer back, the sharp metallic click completely audible in the sudden quiet of the dying helicopter engine.
