Chapter 7 - ETHAN’S WARNING
I moved toward Ethan before anyone could stop me.
Bradley shouted, “Stay away from him!”
That only made me move faster.
Ethan could barely stand.
Needle marks covered both arms. A fresh surgical bandage wrapped around his chest.
His face had changed, but his eyes had not.
Gray.
Steady.
Painfully familiar.
I reached for him.
He caught my wrist.
Not harshly.
Urgently.
“Which doctor?” I whispered.
His eyes moved past me.
Toward William Carter.
Dr. Carter stopped.
Ethan’s voice was weak.
“His father is alive.”
Margaret made a broken sound.
Bradley tried to rush into the corridor.
Officer Ramirez forced him against the wall.
Ethan looked at the black device in my hand.
“Turn it off.”
“It is off.”
“No. The second switch.”
There was a recessed button beneath the casing.
I pressed it.
A low vibration stopped.
Ethan’s body relaxed.
So did mine.
The pressure in my abdomen eased.
Dr. Lisa scanned the room.
“Signal levels are dropping.”
Dr. Carter approached slowly.
“Ethan, I’m William.”
“I know who you are.”
“You said not to trust me.”
“I said don’t trust the doctor.”
His eyes shifted toward the corridor behind him.
Footsteps approached.
Slow.
Measured.
An elderly man appeared beneath the emergency light.
He wore a white coat.
Silver hair.
Straight posture.
Dr. Samuel Carter had not aged like a dead man.
William stared at him.
“Father?”
Samuel smiled.
“Hello, son.”
William’s face emptied.
“You died.”
“A necessary administrative decision.”
Margaret backed away.
Samuel’s gaze moved to Bradley.
Disappointment showed instantly.
“You activated the subjects too early.”
Bradley’s confidence vanished.
“I had it under control.”
“No. You never did.”
Samuel looked at me and Tiffany as if we were charts.
“Both pregnancies remain viable.”
I stepped in front of Ethan.
“You used us.”
“History will call it treatment.”
“History will call it rape.”
His expression did not change.
Dr. Carter moved between Samuel and the room.
“This ends now.”
Samuel looked almost amused.
“You were always the emotional one.”
William’s eyes filled with rage.
“You told me my mother died giving birth.”
“She did.”
“Who was she?”
Samuel paused.
“Subject Seven.”
William lunged.
Ethan caught his arm.
“Don’t.”
Samuel pressed a remote.
A red countdown appeared on the ultrasound monitor.
Five minutes.
“What is that?” Lisa asked.
Samuel turned toward the hidden corridor.
“Sterilization protocol.”
Bradley stared at him.
“You said the embryos would be protected.”
Samuel looked back.
“Only the successful one.”
Both ultrasound screens changed.
Two fetal profiles appeared.
One was marked STABLE.
May you like
The other was marked TERMINATE.
But the labels did not show which baby was which.
