Chapter 7 - BLOOD IN THE HALLWAYS
The next five minutes felt like an eternity. More gunfire echoed from the lower levels of the mansion as the remaining guards fought off the Maroni intruders. The scent of cordite and copper filled the air, entirely replacing the sickening sweet smell of the poison.
Finally, the screech of tires echoed from the courtyard. Heavy boots thundered up the grand staircase.
Nathan burst into the room. He was covered in soot and blood, his suit ruined, his face a mask of primal urgency. In one hand, he held a specialized medical cooler. In the other, he dragged a battered, bleeding Dr. Malcolm Reeves by the collar.
Nathan hurled the doctor to the floor in front of the bed. "Do it," Nathan snarled, pressing the barrel of his gun against the back of Reeves’s head. "Administer the cure. If they die, I will skin you alive and burn you in the courtyard."
Reeves was sobbing, his arrogance completely shattered. He scrambled toward the medical cooler with shaking hands. "I need an IV line. I need saline to dilute it!" he babbled.
"Move!" I barked, shoving Reeves aside. I snatched the cooler. I wasn't about to let this monster touch the boys again. I opened the cooler, finding two vials of a glowing blue synthetic compound. I quickly prepped the syringes, my hands remarkably steady despite the chaos around me.
"It has to be pushed slowly," Reeves whimpered from the floor. "Ten CCs every minute, or their hearts will stop."
"I know how to push an IV," I snapped. I connected the syringe to Jacob's central line, slowly pressing the plunger. Nathan stood right beside me, his large hand resting on my shoulder, grounding me. His presence was an anchor in the storm.
We repeated the process for Jonah. The room descended into a tense, agonizing silence, broken only by the ragged breathing of the boys and the whimpers of the defeated doctor.
We watched the heart monitors. Ten minutes passed. Twenty.
Slowly, miraculously, the violent spikes in their fever began to break. The bluish tint faded from their lips, replaced by a healthy, warm pink. Jacob let out a soft sigh, his tight, pained expression relaxing into peaceful sleep.
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I collapsed backward into a chair, the adrenaline finally leaving my system. Tears of relief streamed down my face.
Nathan fell to his knees beside the bed, burying his face in Jacob’s blankets, his massive shoulders shaking as years of terror and helplessness finally evaporated.
