Chapter 198
No.1
Elisa walked out of the hospital's records room,carrying a thick stack of printed clinical data files.She was exhausted, the muscles in her back screaming in protest against the rigid brace,but her mind was sharp. The meeting had been a flawless victory.
Suddenly,a horrific sound shattered the quiet hum of the hospital.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.
It was the Code Blue alarm. It was coming from the VIP pediatric wing at the end of the hall.
"Help! We need a crash cart in here now!" a nurse screamed from the doorway of Room 4.
Elisa didn't think. The seven years of muscle memory as an ER trauma nurse overrode her exhaustion. She dropped the heavy files onto the floor and moved with a speed that completely defied her injuries. She half-ran, half-limped down the hall, her jaw locked as she ignored the agonizing, tearing sensation in her lower spine.When she finallyreached the door, a massive spike of pain made her vision go black for a fraction of a second, but she pushed through.
She burst through the doors of Room 4.
Tate Mills was thrashing violently on the hospital
No.2
bed. His face was swollen to twice its normal size,covered in angry, raised red hives. His lips were turning a terrifying shade of blue, and he was making a horrific, high-pitched wheezing sound as he desperately fought for air.
Anaphylactic shock.
His airway was closing fast. He had less than two minutes before his brain started dying from oxygen deprivation.
Two young floor nurses were frozen in panic,fumbling with the crash cart drawers.
"Move!" Elisa barked, shoving one of the nurses aside with her shoulder. "He's in full anaphylaxis!Draw 0.3 milligrams of Epinephrine IM, right now!Get the intubation kit ready!"
Elisa grabbed a pair of trauma shears and ripped the sleeve of Tate's hospital gown open to expose his thigh for the injection.
Before the nurse could hand Elisa the syringe,a body slammed violently into Elisa's back.
"Get away from him!"
No.3
Allena shrieked, her voice tearing through the room like shattered glass. She grabbed Elisa by the shoulders and yanked her backward with psychotic strength.
Elisa stumbled, her heavy back brace throwing off her balance. She hit the edge of a metal medical tray,sending instruments crashing to the floor.
August and Cyprian sprinted into the room, drawn
by the screaming.
August saw the blue-faced boy on the bed and froze, his face draining of color. "What the hell is happening?"
Allena spun around. Tears were streaming down her face, her makeup smeared. She pointed a trembling, accusing finger directly at Elisa.
"She did this!" Allena screamed, her voice echoing with hysterical terror. "I saw her! | saw Elisa sneak into the room and inject something into Tate's IV bag! She's testing Aethel's illegal Al drugs on him!She's trying to murder my brother!"
The room plunged into absolute, dead silence. The only sound was Tate's horrific wheezing.
No.4
It was a masterclass in evil. Allena was weaponizing the public fear of unregulated Al medicine to frame Elisa for the attempted murder of a child.①
Elisa's eyes darted to the IV bag hanging above the bed. The plastic port had a fresh, visible puncture mark.
A wave of pure, freezing horror washed over Elisa.Allena hadn't just lied. She had actually injected her own seven-year-old brother with a lethal allergen just to frame her.
"You psychotic bitch," Elisa hissed. She lunged forward, trying to reach the syringe of Epinephrine on the counter. "He is suffocating! Get out of my way!"
Allena threw herself over Tate's body, physically
blocking Elisa. "August! Stop her! She's trying to finish him off! Call the police!"
August's brain short-circuited. He saw the punctured IV bag. He saw Elisa holding the medical shears. The panic of seeing a dying child overrode all logic. He stepped forward, his hands reaching out to physically restrain Elisa.
Suddenly, the Chief of Pediatrics burst into the room,followed by a rapid response team.
No.5
"Clear the bed!" the Chief roared, physically shoving Allena out of the way. He grabbed the Epinephrine syringe and jammed it into Tate's thigh."Bag him! Push oxygen!"
The medical team swarmed the bed, blocking everyone else out.
Allena,having been shoved aside, turned her manic,violent energy entirely onto Elisa.
"I will kill you!" Allena shrieked.
She lunged at Elisa, her hands raised like claws. Her long, acrylic nails, painted a sharp, blood-red,aimed directly for Elisa's eyes.
Elisa tried to step back, but her spine locked up.The brace prevented her from twisting away. She raised her arms to protect her face, bracing for the tearing impact.
It never came.
A large, heavy body suddenly moved into Elisa's peripheral vision with shocking speed.
No.6
RIIIP.
The sickening sound of fabric tearing and flesh parting filled the air.
Allena screamed and stumbled backward, staring at her hands. Her red nails were dripping with fresh,dark blood.
Elisa lowered her arms, her eyes wide with shock.Standing directly in front of her, acting as a human shield,was Cyprian Thatcher.
Cyprian's expensive custom suit jacket was torn at the shoulder. Three deep, bloody gouges ran down the side of his neck, missing his jugular by an inch.Blood was rapidly soaking into his white collar.
The entire room froze. Even August stopped moving.
Cyprian stood there, his chest heaving, his hand slowly coming up to touch the bleeding wounds on his neck. He looked at the blood on his fingers with absolute,bewildered horror.
He had been watching Allena's hysterical, twisted face, and for the first time, he realized she wasn't a victim-she was a genuine, terrifying psychopath.He didn't fully understand why he had done it. He hated Elisa.He had mocked her for years. But when he saw the raw, murderous insanity in Allena's eyes,some deep, uncontrollable, primitive instinct had forced his legs to move.
No.7
Allena stared at Cyprian's bleeding neck,her mouth opening and closing in silent terror.
Elisa looked at the man bleeding for her. The shock faded instantly, replaced by a cold, calculating realization. The enemy's armor was cracking from the inside out. And the war was about to go nuclear.