Chapter 2
Caroline
11 PM. The pediatric ward's corridor lights were dim as a gateway to hell.
I crept past the nurses' station, my heartbeat thundering in the quiet night.
The rage from earlier had been burning for eight solid hours—now it was time to dig up the truth.
As an attending cardiac surgeon at Boston General, I had clearance to access any patient's complete medical records. Emily's identity gave me perfect cover—who would suspect a mother checking her own child's chart in the middle of the night?
I quietly pushed open Noah's door. The little guy was sleeping deeply, his chest rising and falling gently. The IV line was still in his tiny arm, that damned medication dripping poison into my son's body drop by drop.
I quickly moved to the nurses' workstation and logged into the medical system. When Noah's complete chart appeared on screen, my blood turned to ice.
"NX-47 experimental diabetes regulator, dosage 2.5mg, three times daily..."
My hands started shaking. This wasn't insulin!
This was an experimental drug I'd seen in medical journals—still in clinical trials, nowhere near FDA approval!
I quickly pulled up the detailed information on this medication, growing more horrified by the second. The side effects list clearly stated: cardiac arrhythmia, kidney damage, severe blood sugar fluctuations, and in serious cases, organ failure or death!
"Those fucking monsters!" I seethed through gritted teeth. "They're using my seven-year-old son as a lab rat!"
Just then, the door suddenly swung open.
"Emily?" Evelyn's voice cut through the darkness. "What the hell are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
I quickly closed the computer screen and turned to face this two-faced old witch. "I'm checking on my son. Problem with that?"
"Checking on your son requires sneaking around on computers?" Evelyn stepped closer, her eyes sharp as knives. "Emily, you neurotic woman, prowling around here in the middle of the night like some paranoid freak! You're going to end up in a psych ward!"
"Paranoid?" I let out a cold laugh. "Evelyn, do you have any idea what you people have been injecting into Noah?"
"Of course I do!" Evelyn said righteously. "Sarah is far more professional than you, and she cares more about Noah. She said this new medication is much better for his condition—way more effective than regular insulin!"
"Better?" My voice started trembling—not from fear, but from pure rage. "This is an experimental drug without FDA approval! Side effects include cardiac arrhythmia, kidney failure, even death! You're murdering my son!"
Evelyn's face changed, but she quickly resumed that superior expression: "Nonsense! You're just looking for excuses to cause trouble! Sarah is a professional nurse—why would she hurt Noah?"
"Professional nurse?" I moved toward Noah's bed. "Then let this professional doctor protect my son!"
Without hesitation, I yanked the medication bag from Noah's IV line.
"Emily! Have you lost your goddamn mind!" Evelyn shrieked. "You can't do that! It's doctor's orders!"
"Doctor's orders?" I threw the IV bag on the floor. "Injecting an unapproved experimental drug into a seven-year-old—what kind of bullshit doctor's orders are those? From now on, nobody gives my son this poison!"
Evelyn frantically hit the nurse call button. Within two minutes, Sarah came rushing in, out of breath.
"What's going on?" Sarah saw the IV bag on the floor and went white as a sheet. "Emily, what have you done?"
"I'm protecting my son from your toxic abuse!" I positioned myself in front of Noah's bed like a lioness protecting her cub. "Sarah, how long are you going to keep up this act?"
"You're insane! This is a medical order—you have no right to stop his medication!" Sarah tried to reconnect the IV line, but I shoved her away.
"No right? I'm his mother! I'm a professional doctor! I know better than anyone what's good for my son!"
That's when I quietly hit record on my phone. I needed to preserve this evidence.
"Emily, you can't be so emotional about this!" Sarah's voice became urgent. "This medication cost a fortune to obtain, and the clinical results are excellent. You can't destroy the entire treatment protocol because of your prejudices!"
There it was—"cost a fortune," "treatment protocol." I knew there was something fishy!
"What fortune?" I pressed harder. "An experimental drug—exactly what did it cost?"
Sarah realized she'd said too much and quickly backtracked: "I mean... the hospital's process for obtaining new medications is very complex..."
"Cut the bullshit!" I exploded. "Tell me! Where did this drug come from?"
Sarah and Evelyn exchanged glances, clearly not wanting to continue this conversation.
"Emily, you're too worked up right now," Evelyn said with fake concern. "Let's step outside and let you cool down. We'll discuss this tomorrow."
"Don't you dare run!" I tried to stop them.
"We're going to talk to Michael about this," Sarah said hastily, pulling Evelyn toward the door. "He needs to handle this situation."
The two of them rushed out of the room, leaving me standing there alone, shaking with rage.
I was about to chase after them when I heard Michael's voice in the hallway—he was on a phone call. I quickly stopped and crept to the door to eavesdrop.
"...the test subject is showing abnormal reactions, Emily is getting suspicious..." Michael's voice was anxious.
"Five million dollars wasn't given for free, Mr. Clarke." A cold male voice came through the phone. "Our investment at Nexus Corporation must show returns. The experiment must continue, by any means necessary."
My heart nearly stopped. Five million dollars? Nexus Corporation? Michael had actually sold his own son as a test subject for money!
"I know, I know..." Michael's voice grew more nervous. "But Emily's reaction today was so strange—it's like she's a completely different person..."
"Then find a way to shut her up," the voice on the phone was emotionless. "Or... change the guardian."
My grip on my phone tightened until my knuckles went white.
These bastards didn't just want my money and my house—now they wanted to trade my son's life for cash!
"If Emily continues to interfere..." Michael's voice hesitated.
"Mr. Clarke, you should know what's in your best interest," the voice became more sinister. "Five million is just the beginning. If the experiment succeeds, there's much more funding to follow. But the prerequisite is that the test subject must comply."
I almost charged out there to tear Michael apart, but reason told me this wasn't the time. I needed more evidence.
The footsteps faded as Michael apparently headed toward the elevator.
I quietly returned to the Noah's room.
The moment the door closed behind them, my expression instantly turned cold as ice.
I walked to Noah's bedside, gently stroking his sleeping face. My phone held all the conversations I'd just recorded—five million dollars, Nexus Corporation, test subject... all the evidence was right here.
"Baby, Mommy's going to protect you," I whispered in his ear. "The people who hurt you are going to pay."