Chapter 6 - THE MAN WHO DIED TWICE
The room became silent enough to hear the rain tapping the clinic windows.
I read the status again.
Subject recovered.
Not remains recovered.
Subject.
“Ethan is alive?”
Dr. Carter moved the monitor closer.
The file contained no location.
Only a transfer code and a physician signature.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
Tiffany looked at me.
“You know him?”
“I loved him.”
Bradley laughed bitterly.
“You loved the version they let you see.”
I turned toward him.
“What does that mean?”
“Ethan was part of the Carter Protocol before he joined the Army.”
Margaret sat down heavily.
Dr. Carter looked at her.
“How long have you known?”
“Since Bradley found Samuel’s files.”
“You helped him?”
“At first.”
Her voice broke.
“I thought the program could cure inherited disease.”
“And then?”
“Bradley stopped caring about disease.”
He wanted control.
The meaning filled the room without being spoken.
Dr. Carter contacted federal authorities.
The call failed.
Clinic phones went dead.
The overhead lights flickered.
Security monitors froze.
Ramirez reached for his radio.
Static.
Bradley smiled.
“You locked the door for me.”
A heavy click came from the hallway.
The electronic locks had sealed.
Dr. Lisa checked Tiffany’s IV line.
“There’s something wrong.”
The fluid bag label had changed.
A medication had been added.
Not by her.
Tiffany’s eyes began closing.
Dr. Carter tore the line from her arm.
The nurse moved toward the emergency cabinet.
It was locked.
I looked at Bradley.
“What did you plan?”
“To finish the trial.”
He moved toward the ultrasound machine.
Ramirez grabbed him.
Bradley drove his elbow into the officer’s throat and reached for the black device.
Dr. Carter tackled him against the wall.
The device skidded under the examination bed.
I dropped to my knees and grabbed it first.
Bradley stopped fighting.
“Careful, Sarah.”
“What happens if I break it?”
“You may kill both babies.”
My hand froze.
He smiled.
That was his control.
Not strength.
Fear.
A knock sounded from inside the wall behind the ultrasound machine.
Everyone turned.
Another knock.
Three slow strikes.
Dr. Carter pulled the equipment aside.
A narrow service door had been hidden behind it.
Ramirez forced it open.
A dark corridor stretched beyond the room.
At the far end stood a man in a hospital gown.
Thin.
Bearded.
Alive.
He raised his head.
My heart stopped.
Ethan Walker looked directly at me.
May you like
Then he whispered,
“Sarah, don’t trust the doctor.”
