Chapter 6 - The Old HospitalThe abandoned hospital stood at the edge of the river.
Windows broken.
Walls covered in ivy.
The old research wing had been closed for twenty years.
Arthur remembered walking through those halls.
Before the accident.
Before Eleanor died.
Before everything fell apart.
Ethan followed him.
“You've been here?”
“Once.”
“Why?”
“My father brought me.”
“What did you see?”
Arthur stopped.
“I saw people who believed they could control life.”
Ethan looked at him.
“And now?”
“Now I know they were wrong.”
They entered the basement.
The lights flickered.
A speaker crackled.
Samuel's voice filled the corridor.
“Welcome home, Arthur.”
Arthur looked around.
“Where is Grace?”
“Keep walking.”
They followed the corridor.
At the end was a glass room.
Grace was inside.
She was crying.
Ethan rushed forward.
“Grace!”
The baby lifted her head.
Arthur's heart broke.
“Open the door.”
Samuel appeared on a monitor.
“Give me the research.”
Arthur held up the flash drive.
“Let her go.”
Samuel laughed.
“You still think this is about money.”
“What else?”
“Control.”
Samuel explained the final secret.
The research had never been about healing.
It was about neural regeneration.
Arthur's accident had accidentally proven the treatment worked.
Grace's touch triggered the dormant response.
If researchers could isolate it…
paralysis and spinal injuries could potentially be treated.
But the company had hidden the discovery.
Why?
Because a treatment that restored damaged nerves would destroy billions in long-term medical contracts.
Samuel wanted the technology.
Arthur's family wanted to bury it.
Lydia wanted to expose it.
And Eleanor wanted to protect the children.
Arthur looked at Grace.
“She is not your property.”
Samuel smiled.
“Neither are you.”
A door opened behind Arthur.
Victor stepped out.
Arthur turned.
“You.”
Victor looked ashamed.
“I didn't know what Samuel planned.”
“You helped him.”
“I thought we were protecting the research.”
Arthur shook his head.
“You helped imprison my granddaughter.”
Victor lowered his eyes.
“I made a mistake.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Where is my mother?”
Victor looked at him.
“She is dead.”
Ethan's face tightened.
“Who killed her?”
Samuel answered.
“Lydia died because she refused to cooperate.”
Ethan lunged toward the glass.
Arthur grabbed him.
“Don't.”
Ethan was shaking.
Arthur looked at Samuel.
“You're finished.”
Samuel laughed.
“Am I?”
The building alarm suddenly activated.
The doors locked.
Gas began filling the corridor.
Arthur coughed.
Ethan grabbed his arm.
“Dad!”
Arthur looked at him.
“Get Grace.”
“How?”
Arthur pointed toward the emergency release.
“Break the glass.”
Ethan smashed the panel.
The door opened.
He grabbed Grace.
Arthur pushed Ethan toward the exit.
“Go!”
“What about you?”
“I'll follow.”
But the corridor ceiling collapsed.
Arthur was trapped.
Ethan screamed.
“Dad!”
Arthur looked through the smoke.
“Get her out!”
Ethan ran.
Arthur closed his eyes.
Then felt something touch his hand.
Tiny fingers.
Grace.
She had crawled back.
Arthur stared at her.
Her hand rested against his.
His leg moved.
Then his knee.
Arthur pushed against the floor.
May you like
For the first time in thirty years…
he stood without support.
