Chapter 8: The Boy in the Hospital Photograph
I hit the floor.
Something heavy crashed beside me.
"Sarah!""
I reached through the darkness.
My fingers found her hand.
"I'm here!""
"Daniel, don't move!""
A second gunshot shattered the silence.
Detective Harris shouted from somewhere near the entrance.
"Police! Drop your weapon!""
A man's voice answered.
"You should have stayed out of this!""
I heard footsteps running.
Then the emergency lights flickered on.
Sarah was lying beside the table.
Blood covered her left shoulder.
I crawled toward her.
"Oh, God. Sarah!""
She pressed one hand against the wound.
"I'm okay.""
"You're bleeding!""
"Daniel, listen.""
I grabbed a piece of cloth from the table and pressed it against her shoulder.
"Don't talk.""
She caught my wrist.
"Subject Zero.""
I looked at her.
"What about him?""
"Find the original hospital records.""
"Where?""
"St. Agnes.""
Detective Harris appeared beside us.
"Medic! We need a medic!""
Sarah tried to sit up.
"No!""
Harris pushed her gently back.
"Ma'am, stay down.""
She grabbed his sleeve.
"Detective, you have to listen.""
"We'll talk at the hospital.""
"No. Reeves knows we're here.""
Harris glanced toward the open doorway.
An officer ran past.
"Suspect escaped through the rear exit!""
Harris swore.
He turned toward Sarah.
"Who fired the shot?""
She shook her head.
"I didn't see him.""
I looked at the wound.
"You're going to the hospital.""
Sarah looked at me.
"Daniel, the children...""
"They're safe.""
"All three?""
I nodded.
"Leo, Noah, and Emma.""
She closed her eyes.
Tears slipped down her cheeks.
"Thank God.""
The ambulance arrived within minutes.
As paramedics lifted her onto the stretcher, she caught my hand.
"Don't let them separate the children again.""
"I won't.""
"Promise me.""
I squeezed her fingers.
"I promise.""
At the hospital, doctors took Sarah into surgery.
Detective Harris stayed with me in the waiting room.
I sat with my elbows on my knees, staring at the floor.
For fourteen months, I had believed my family was gone.
Now my wife was alive.
My son had been found.
I had discovered two other children.
And someone had just tried to kill us.
Harris sat beside me.
"Daniel, I need to know exactly what Sarah told you.""
I described the envelope marked Subject Zero.
He frowned.
"Did she explain who that was?""
"No.""
"Did she mention the name Reeves?""
"She said he knew they were at the storage unit.""
Harris took out his phone.
"I'm sending officers to St. Agnes.""
"Sarah said we need the original hospital records.""
"We'll get them.""
I looked at him.
"Why is this happening?""
He was silent for a moment.
Then he said, "Because someone has spent years making sure certain information never becomes public.""
An hour later, a surgeon came out.
"Family of Sarah Carter?""
I stood immediately.
"Yes.""
"She's stable. The bullet missed any major organs. She'll need observation, but she's going to recover.""
I nearly collapsed with relief.
"Can I see her?""
"In a few minutes.""
Harris received a call.
He listened, then stood.
"What do you mean the records are missing?""
He walked toward the window.
"Check the basement archive.""
A pause.
"Then find out who signed them out.""
He ended the call.
I looked at him.
"What happened?""
"St. Agnes has been abandoned for three years. Most of the records were transferred to a central archive.""
"And?""
"Someone accessed the files this morning.""
"Who?""
Harris showed me his phone.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
It showed a man entering the archive.
I recognized him immediately.
Jonathan.
"He's stealing the records?""
Harris shook his head.
"Not exactly.""
He zoomed in.
Jonathan was carrying a cardboard box.
Behind him stood another person.
A woman.
Wearing a hospital uniform.
I stared at her face.
It was Elena.
My sister.
"She's supposed to be under police surveillance.""
Harris swore.
"Apparently, someone made a mistake.""
He immediately called his officers.
"Get to the archive. Now.""
I looked toward Sarah's room.
"I need to see her first.""
Harris nodded.
"Five minutes.""
Sarah was awake when I entered.
Her face looked exhausted.
But when she saw me, she smiled faintly.
"Daniel.""
I sat beside her.
"Why didn't you tell me?""
She looked at the ceiling.
"I wanted to.""
"Then why didn't you?""
"Because I discovered what was happening before Leo disappeared.""
I held her hand.
"Tell me everything.""
She took a shaky breath.
"Four years ago, when I gave birth to the triplets, Dr. Reeves told us one of the babies had an unusual genetic marker.""
"Which baby?""
"Leo.""
I frowned.
"But Jonathan said—"
"Jonathan doesn't know everything.""
She looked at me.
"Reeves wanted to study Leo. He claimed it was harmless. He said the research might help children with certain inherited conditions.""
"And you agreed?""
"At first.""
Her eyes filled.
"Then I discovered the research wasn't voluntary. They were using children's medical information without parental consent. Some children had been transferred between hospitals under false identities.""
I remembered the red notebook.
"The missing registrations.""
Sarah nodded.
"Leo's medical records were altered. Noah's were altered. Emma's too.""
"Why?""
"Because Reeves wanted to hide the fact that the triplets had been born together.""
I felt sick.
"Why would that matter?""
She squeezed my hand.
"Because their genetic profiles were being compared against another child.""
"Subject Zero.""
Sarah nodded.
I leaned closer.
"Who is that child?""
She stared at me.
Then she said:
"A boy who was born before the triplets. A boy Reeves believed could unlock a treatment for a disease that had already killed dozens of children.""
I frowned.
"What disease?""
"An inherited neurological condition. It causes progressive damage to the nervous system.""
I thought of Leo's weak body.
"Does Leo have it?""
Sarah shook her head.
"No. That's why Reeves was so interested.""
She explained that the researchers believed Leo's genetic profile might help them understand why some children developed the condition while others didn't.
But the research had gone far beyond medical testing.
Children had been transferred without proper documentation.
Families had been deceived.
And when Sarah discovered the truth, she tried to expose the organization.
"Why didn't you go to the police?""
"I did.""
I stared at her.
"What?""
"Someone inside the department warned Reeves.""
Harris.
The detective.
I immediately thought of him.
"Who?""
Sarah shook her head.
"I don't know. But Reeves knew every move I made.""
I stood.
"We need to get you somewhere safe.""
She caught my hand.
"Daniel, there's something else.""
I turned.
"What?""
She looked frightened.
"Subject Zero isn't just a medical file.""
"Then what is it?""
"It's a child.""
I stared at her.
"Where is he?""
She swallowed.
"He's alive.""
"How old?""
"Eight.""
I felt my heart pounding.
"Where is he now?""
Sarah's voice dropped to a whisper.
"He's been living under a different name.""
"Whose name?""
She closed her eyes.
"Your name.""
I couldn't understand.
"What?""
"Daniel, Subject Zero has been registered as Daniel Carter's biological son.""
I shook my head.
"That's impossible.""
Sarah reached for the bedside drawer.
She pulled out a folded hospital photograph.
It showed a little boy standing beside a nurse.
He had dark hair and a thin face.
A familiar smile.
I stared at the picture.
Then I noticed the date.
Eight years earlier.
Three years before I met Sarah.
On the back was a handwritten note.
*SUBJECT ZERO — BIOLOGICAL FATHER: DANIEL CARTER.*
I felt the room spin.
Sarah began crying.
"Daniel, I need you to understand. Reeves didn't choose you because of your company.""
I looked at her.
"Then why?""
She held my hand tightly.
"Because he knew you were already the father of Subject Zero.""
I couldn't speak.
I had never known this child.
I had never been told about him.
And suddenly, the entire story seemed to stretch much further back than my marriage.
Before I could ask another question, the hospital door opened.
Detective Harris walked in.
His face was pale.
"Daniel, we have a problem.""
I turned.
"What now?""
"Jonathan and Elena are missing.""
I stood.
"Did they take the records?""
Harris nodded.
"Some of them.""
Sarah began trembling.
"What did they take?""
Harris looked at her.
"The original birth certificates.""
Sarah covered her mouth.
Then she whispered:
"They've found him.""
I grabbed her hand.
"Found who?""
May you like
She looked directly into my eyes.
"Subject Zero.""
