Chapter 2 - Flight Through The Shadows
"I am absolutely not going anywhere with you!" I yelled over the sudden wail of the hospital lockdown sirens. Red emergency lights began flashing outside the window, painting Ethan's pale face in terrifying crimson strokes. "I am a doctor. I have patients. And I am not stepping into whatever mafia war you have brought to my doorstep!"
The security chief, Marcus, was already unhooking Ethan from the stationary monitors and hooking him to a portable battery pack. "Doctor, with all due respect, if they know you saved his life, you are a target. If they know your history with Mr. Blackwood, you are a hostage. We need to leave this building sixty seconds ago."
Gunfire erupted somewhere on the floor below us. The muffled, heavy thumps vibrated through the floorboards. My blood ran completely cold. I thought of my quiet apartment five miles away. I thought of Kate, my sweet elderly neighbor, sitting on my floral sofa. And I thought of Mia, sleeping peacefully with her stuffed horse, completely unaware that the dangerous world of the father she never knew was closing in on us.
"Fine," I breathed out, grabbing my medical bag and stuffing extra gauze, epinephrine, and painkillers inside. "But we are not going to your secure bunker or wherever you billionaires hide. We have to make a stop."
Ethan grimaced in agony as Marcus hoisted him to his feet. Ethan threw one heavy arm over Marcus's shoulder, his breathing shallow and ragged. "A stop? Claire, we are being hunted by professional killers. We cannot make detours."
"We are making this detour, or I will stay right here and let them find me!" I grabbed Ethan's other side, supporting his weight. I leaned in close so he could hear the absolute desperation in my voice. "My daughter is at my apartment with a babysitter. If your enemies know about me, they might know about her. I am not leaving Mia behind."
Ethan stopped moving. Despite the chaotic screaming from the hallway and the blaring alarms, time seemed to freeze. He looked down at me, his dark eyes shimmering with unspoken tears and a sudden, terrifying realization. "Mia," he whispered the name like it was a sacred prayer. "My daughter."
"We will talk about the biology later," I snapped, pulling him toward the private staff elevator. "Right now, we need to keep her alive."
We bypassed the main corridors, slipping through the laundry chutes and maintenance hallways. Marcus communicated silently into his earpiece, coordinating with his surviving men. We reached the underground parking garage just as a black armored SUV skidded to a halt in front of us.
The ride into the dark Seattle night was a nightmare of adrenaline and fear. I sat in the back with Ethan, pressing fresh bandages against his side where the exertion had caused his wounds to seep through the stitches. He watched my hands, his expression a mix of physical agony and profound awe. He was bleeding, broken, and hunted, but he could not stop asking me questions.
"Does she look like you?" he asked quietly over the roar of the engine.
May you like
"She has my hair," I answered, keeping my eyes glued to his bandages. "But she has your eyes. And your absolute refusal to follow simple instructions."
The SUV tore through the quiet suburban streets, shattering the peace of my ordinary life. We pulled up to my small apartment building. The street was dark, quiet, and completely normal. For a second, I thought we had beaten them. Then Marcus cursed violently from the front seat, pointing at a black sedan idling with its headlights off right in front of my building. We were too late.
