Chapter 13 - NO MORE MIRACLES
Danny launched himself at the guard.
“Give her back!”
The guard shoved him down.
Maya clawed at his arm.
“Let go!”
Rose began screaming.
Marcus stepped forward.
“Careful!”
Graham saw it.
Not a scientist protecting a specimen.
A father hearing his baby cry.
That made Marcus more human.
And somehow more dangerous.
Claire blocked Sophia’s bed.
“You’re not doing this.”
Marcus raised the gun again.
“Move.”
“No.”
“Claire.”
“You’ll have to shoot me.”
Graham looked at his daughter.
So did Marcus.
Marcus’s hand shook.
Sophia whispered, “Don’t.”
Marcus shouted, “I can save you!”
“I don’t want this!”
“You’re seventeen!”
“So?”
“You don’t know what you want!”
Sophia’s face twisted.
“I know I don’t want to wake up because a baby died for me!”
Marcus’s breathing became ragged.
Danny crawled toward Rose.
The guard kicked him back.
Graham’s anger exploded.
“Touch him again and I’ll kill you.”
The guard laughed.
Graham stood straighter.
No wheelchair.
No fear.
Marcus looked at him.
“Look at you.”
Graham’s jaw tightened.
“Don’t.”
“She gave you your legs back.”
“She almost died doing it.”
“And now you’re willing to let Sophia die?”
Graham looked at the teenage girl.
Then at Rose.
“This isn’t my choice.”
Marcus laughed bitterly.
“Everything is someone’s choice.”
He moved toward Rose.
The baby suddenly stopped crying.
Her gray eyes fixed on him.
Marcus froze.
Rose reached out.
“Don’t,” Danny whispered.
Marcus took her from the guard.
For one second, his face changed completely.
He held his daughter like a father.
Not a doctor.
Not a monster.
A father.
Rose touched his cheek.
Marcus closed his eyes.
Then he gasped.
His knees buckled.
The gun fell.
Claire grabbed Rose.
Marcus collapsed.
“What happened?” Danny shouted.
Claire checked him.
“His heart.”
Marcus clutched his chest.
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
He looked at Rose.
Understanding crossed his face.
“She took something.”
Claire shook her head.
“No.”
Marcus looked confused.
Graham understood first.
“She gave something back.”
Everyone stared at him.
“What?” Danny asked.
Graham stepped closer.
“When Rose touched me, she took my injury.”
He looked at Marcus.
“But maybe she can move things both ways.”
Claire’s eyes widened.
“His cardiac condition.”
Marcus stared.
Nobody had known.
Except maybe Rose.
He started laughing.
A broken sound.
“I have cardiomyopathy.”
Sophia stared at him.
“You never told me.”
“I was supposed to have another year.”
Graham felt the pieces click together.
Marcus had not only been racing Sophia’s death.
He had been racing his own.
Marcus looked at Rose.
“She returned it.”
Claire checked the baby.
Rose’s color improved.
Slowly.
Danny saw it.
“Her fever.”
Claire touched Rose’s forehead.
“Going down.”
Danny began crying.
Marcus stared at his daughter in Claire’s arms.
“She can reject the transfer.”
Graham nodded.
“She’s not your machine.”
Marcus looked at Sophia.
Then at the gun on the floor.
Then at the armed guards.
His whole life reduced to one ugly room.
Sophia whispered, “Let them go.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
For several seconds nobody moved.
Then he said, “Stand down.”
The guards hesitated.
Marcus shouted, “I said stand down!”
Weapons lowered.
Danny rushed to Rose.
He held her against his chest.
“Hey, Rosie.”
She touched his chin.
He laughed through tears.
“You scared me.”
Cal burst into the room.
“Federal agents are six minutes out.”
Marcus looked up.
Graham smiled.
“What did you do?”
Claire answered.
“I uploaded everything.”
Marcus stared.
“All of Anna’s files?”
“All of them.”
His face went empty.
Years of crimes.
Trials.
Deaths.
Cover-ups.
Gone public in one click.
Marcus sat against the wall.
Sophia watched him.
“You could’ve just been my dad.”
His face broke.
“I didn’t know how to lose you.”
Sophia started crying.
“You lost me trying not to.”
Then a shot rang out.
Claire jerked.
Graham shouted.
A guard near the door had raised his weapon.
Cal fired back.
The guard fell.
Claire collapsed beside Sophia’s bed.
May you like
Blood spread across her shirt.
Graham forgot how to stand.
