Chapter 7 - THE ANTIDOTE
Dr. Reed ordered Priya to collect every drop with sterile swabs.
Aaron tried to run.
City police met him at the stairwell.
This time, hospital security could not protect him.
He was arrested for unlawful entry, conspiracy, medical assault, and evidence tampering.
He refused to identify which daughter was ill.
The broken vial contained an experimental compound produced by Genesis Biologics.
It was not a simple antidote.
It treated a rare cardiac mutation.
Dr. Reed compared the compound with my daughters’ prenatal genetic files.
Lucy had the mutation.
Ella did not.
My current baby had been selected as a tissue match for Lucy.
Aaron and Sylvia planned to control the delivery, remove cord blood, and possibly take additional material.
Some procedures would be safe.
Others would not.
They never intended to ask permission.
Rebecca Sloan obtained a warrant for Genesis Biologics.
The company’s chief medical officer denied involvement.
Internal emails proved they funded Mitchell Maternal Health.
Lucy was listed as PATIENT SILVER.
Ella was PATIENT GOLD.
My unborn daughter was DONOR BLUE.
I was MATERNAL SOURCE.
No names.
Only functions.
Federal investigators located Judge Cole’s jet in the Bahamas, but the family and Lucy were no longer aboard.
A medical transport had moved the child to an unknown destination.
Ella’s adoptive family remained missing too.
Then Rebecca Mitchell appeared at a police station in Oklahoma.
Alive.
Injured.
Carrying a hard drive.
Aaron’s sister had spent two years gathering evidence after escaping Sylvia’s control.
She had uploaded the ultrasound file and photograph to Dr. Reed’s machine because she feared direct contact would expose her.
Rebecca confirmed both girls were alive.
She also knew Lucy’s likely location.
Genesis operated a cardiac research facility beneath a private children’s hospital in New Mexico.
Federal teams prepared a raid.
Aaron requested a meeting with me.
He offered access codes in exchange for a promise that I would not separate him from the children.
I met him behind jailhouse glass with Rebecca Sloan beside me.
“You separated them from me,” I said.
“I kept them alive.”
“You sold Ella.”
“She was healthy.”
“And Lucy?”
“Mother kept her close because she needed treatment.”
“Where?”
He looked at the camera.
Then whispered, “You’re asking the wrong question.”
“What question should I ask?”
“Why did Natalie turn off the ultrasound?”
I stared at him.
Dr. Reed said she saw scar tissue.
Aaron shook his head.
“She saw a second heartbeat.”
My hands went numb.
May you like
The current ultrasound had shown more than one fetus.
Dr. Reed had hidden it from me.
