Chapter 9 - The Last Heartbeat
Marcus sprinted down the private executive elevator, the metal canister gripped tightly in his fist.
The elevator doors pinged open in the basement garage, and Marcus bolted toward the medical van.
Inside the vehicle, the red warning lights on the cardiac monitor were flashing violently.
Dr. Thorne was performing chest compressions on Chloe's tiny, lifeless body.
The high-pitched, unbroken whine of the flatline monitor pierced through the garage.
"Clear!" Dr. Thorne yelled, placing pediatric defibrillator pads on Chloe's chest.
Her small body jolted from the electric shock, but the monitor continued its flat, endless tone.
Marcus dropped to his knees beside the stretcher, his hands trembling as he cracked open the metal canister.
He pulled out the auto-injector containing the clear antidote serum.
"Where do I inject it?!" Marcus roared, tears blurring his vision.
"Directly into the central line in her neck!" Dr. Thorne shouted, maintaining chest compressions without stopping.
"We have twenty seconds before permanent brain death occurs!"
Marcus aligned the needle with the medical port, his hands miraculously turning rock steady.
"Daddy is here, Chloe," he whispered, pressing the trigger firmly into the port.
The mechanical click echoed through the van as the antidote flushed into her bloodstream.
Ten seconds passed in agonizing silence.
The flatline continued to scream.
Fifteen seconds.
Marcus buried his face in Chloe's cold hand, clutching her worn brown teddy bear beside her cheek.
"Please, God, take me instead," Marcus wept openly.
"Don't take my little girl."
Suddenly, the flatline broke with a single, sharp beep.
Then another.
And another.
The rhythmic chime of a steady heartbeat filled the interior of the van.
Chloe took a sudden, deep gasp of air, her tiny chest rising under the blanket.
Her eyelids fluttered open, and her dark brown eyes focused weakly on Marcus's tear-stained face.
"Daddy?" Chloe whispered, her voice barely audible.
"You saved Barnaby."
Marcus pulled his daughter into his arms, sobbing with profound relief as he held her against his chest.
Dr. Thorne collapsed back against the medical seat, wiping the sweat from his eyes with a shaking hand.
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"Her vitals are stabilizing," Dr. Thorne breathed.
"The neurotoxin is completely neutralized."
