Chapter 10 - Code Black
The fourth floor was bathed in flashing red emergency lights. The siren’s high-pitched wail pierced through the sterile corridors: *Code Black. Lockdown protocol initiated.*
Nurses were scrambling in panic. Heavy fire doors had dropped down across the hallway, sealing the VIP delivery wing from the rest of the hospital. Julian had triggered the hospital's biohazard containment protocol from his master terminal.
I reached the reinforced glass partition of Delivery Suite 4.
Through the glass, I saw Chloe lying on the gurney, clutching her stomach in agony, writhing as another contraction tore through her body. Two nurses were frantically trying to monitor the baby’s vitals, completely bewildered by the lockdown.
The side door of the scrub room opened.
Julian walked in. He had already donned a sterile surgical gown and latex gloves. But his face wasn't that of a surgeon. His eyes were wide, bloodshot, completely consumed by madness.
"Get out," Julian ordered the two nurses.
"Dr. Thorne, she’s in second-stage labor, her vitals are dropping—" the lead nurse began.
"I said get out!" Julian roared, pulling an emergency manual release override from his pocket. The nurses, terrified, backed out through the secondary exit, leaving Chloe alone with him.
"Julian... please..." Chloe wept, her face drenched in sweat, holding her rounded belly defensively. "Don't touch my baby... please..."
Julian picked up a syringe from the stainless steel tray.
"You ruined everything, Chloe," Julian whispered, stepping toward the gurney. "You and your pathetic mother thought you could outsmart me? I built this hospital! I own you! If I can't have my perfect family, you won't live to tell anyone why!"
I slammed my body against the reinforced glass. "Julian! Don't you dare touch her!"
Julian looked up at me through the glass and smiled a grotesque, hollow smile. He uncapped the needle.
I pulled the emergency fire extinguisher from the wall mount, swung with every ounce of strength I possessed, and smashed the heavy steel canister against the glass door’s electronic locking mechanism.
Sparks showered across the linoleum. The glass cracked.
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With a roar of maternal fury, I threw my shoulder against the shattered door, bursting into the room just as Julian raised the needle toward Chloe’s IV port.
***
