Chapter 10 - The Blue Room
Noah lay beneath a warming lamp with sensors attached to his chest.
A nurse stood beside him, her hands trembling above a tray of instruments. She stepped back when Nathan entered.
“I didn’t know they took him from the ambulance,” she said.
Nathan checked the infant’s breathing and circulation.
“Has the device been activated?”
“No. Dr. Hale ordered removal.”
“Where is it located?”
She pointed toward a small mark near Noah’s shoulder.
Nathan examined the area. The implant was shallow, but removing it inside an unauthorized underground facility carried unnecessary risk.
“We are transporting him to St. Catherine’s.”
“The control system is linked to this room.”
“Disable it.”
“I can’t.”
“Who can?”
“Dr. Hale and Marcus Kane.”
Nathan looked through the observation window.
Marcus was not there.
He had never entered with the deputies.
The sheriff radioed from above.
Marcus Kane had disappeared during the pursuit.
Philip remained at the Mercer house under police protection, but one of Marcus’s vehicles was missing.
The nurse opened a cabinet and removed a handheld scanner.
“This can place the device in safe mode for twenty minutes.”
“Do it.”
She passed the scanner over Noah’s shoulder.
A green light appeared.
Nathan wrapped Noah securely and carried him into the corridor.
Elena nearly collapsed with relief.
She held him for only a moment before the deputies directed everyone toward the elevator.
Hale watched them leave.
“You think Marcus is the problem,” he told Nathan. “You still do not understand what Claire discovered.”
Nathan stopped.
“What did she discover?”
Hale glanced toward Lily.
“That Elena was never the intended mother.”
Elena’s face tightened.
Nathan stepped closer. “Explain.”
“These children were planned before Marcus married her.”
The deputy moved Hale toward the elevator.
Hale smiled at Nathan.
“Ask your brother who selected the families.”
At St. Catherine’s, the emergency department was placed under police control. Noah and Eva were admitted to a secure pediatric unit. Imaging confirmed small experimental implants near each infant’s shoulder. Neither device appeared to have caused immediate harm.
Lily was treated for exposure and exhaustion. Elena received care for dehydration and injuries from her escape.
Marcus remained missing.
By sunrise, news stations surrounded the hospital.
Kane Medical issued a statement claiming a domestic custody dispute had been maliciously misrepresented as a corporate scandal. The company denied operating unauthorized research and accused Philip Mercer of stealing confidential records.
Nathan sat beside Lily’s bed while she slept.
Rosa entered carrying coffee.
“The hospital archives are being searched,” she said. “Room 314 doesn’t exist, and nobody recognizes the key.”
“It opened the underground door.”
“Because Hale’s facility copied old St. Catherine’s lock designs.”
“So the number must mean something else.”
Rosa placed the key beneath the light.
A faint line was visible along the metal shaft.
She twisted the base.
The key separated into two pieces.
Inside was a rolled strip of paper.
Nathan unfolded it.
The message was written in Claire’s handwriting.
Nathan, if Elena reaches you, the children are already in danger. Do not trust the custody file. Find the mother listed under Case 7B.
At the bottom was a sequence of numbers.
Rosa recognized them as hospital archive coordinates.
The deposit box was not in Room 314.
It was hidden inside Claire’s old legal office, now used as a records annex beneath St. Catherine’s west wing.
Nathan looked toward the pediatric unit.
“Stay with the children.”
“You are not going alone.”
“Claire addressed the message to me.”
“And she gave me the key.”
May you like
Together, they entered the hospital’s lower level.
Neither noticed the security guard watching them from the stairwell.
