CHAPTER 7 — THE MISSING MEDICAL FILE
CHAPTER 7 — THE MISSING MEDICAL FILE
We barely made it out of the building.
The moment we reached the alley, another gunshot shattered the silence behind us.
Maya screamed.
I pulled her close with one arm while holding Daniel with the other.
"Keep moving!"
Julian ran ahead.
Vivian followed, checking every corner.
We reached the black SUV.
Julian opened the rear door.
"Get in!"
I climbed inside with Daniel.
Maya followed.
Vivian jumped behind the wheel.
Julian got in beside us.
The engine roared.
We sped away.
Nobody spoke.
For several blocks, all I could hear was Daniel's soft breathing.
Then Maya whispered:
"They found us."
I looked at her.
"Who?"
"The people Grandma warned me about."
"Who are they?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
"You must know something."
"I know they have been looking for me for years."
My heart tightened.
"Why didn't your grandmother take you somewhere safe?"
"She did."
Maya looked out the window.
"Every time we moved, they found us."
"How?"
She looked at Julian.
"Because someone always told them where we were."
Silence.
Julian's jaw tightened.
"I didn't."
Maya looked away.
"I didn't say you did."
"But you think it."
She didn't answer.
I watched Julian.
There was something about his expression I couldn't read.
Guilt.
Fear.
Maybe both.
I turned toward Vivian.
"Where are we going?"
"Somewhere they won't think to look."
"Where?"
"The old Blackwood medical archive."
Julian immediately looked at her.
"No."
Vivian didn't slow down.
"Why not?"
"Because it's been sealed for years."
"Exactly."
He stared at her.
"You can't be serious."
"The missing medical file is there."
My pulse quickened.
"What missing file?"
Vivian looked at me through the rearview mirror.
"Yours."
The archive was beneath an abandoned Blackwood-owned clinic.
The building had been closed after a fire twelve years earlier.
From the outside, it looked empty.
Inside, Vivian entered a code into a keypad.
The steel door opened.
I stared at her.
"How do you know the code?"
"I used to work here."
We entered.
The room smelled of dust and old paper.
Rows of metal cabinets stretched into darkness.
Maya held my hand.
Daniel slept against my chest.
Julian walked behind us.
He hadn't said a word since we arrived.
Vivian stopped at the end of the corridor.
"Your file should be here."
I frowned.
"You said it was missing."
"It was missing from St. Jude."
She pointed toward the cabinets.
"Not necessarily from here."
We began searching.
Drawer after drawer.
Patient after patient.
Nothing.
Then Maya stopped.
"Mom."
I turned.
She was staring at a cabinet.
"What?"
"That number."
I looked.
C-0416.
My birth year.
My hands went cold.
I opened it.
Empty.
I looked at Vivian.
"Nothing."
She shook her head.
"Look underneath."
I pulled the drawer completely out.
A false panel was hidden beneath it.
Julian stepped forward.
"Let me."
He removed the panel.
Inside was a thin black folder.
No name.
No identification.
Only a red symbol.
Vivian's face changed.
"That's it."
"What?"
"The original file."
I opened it.
The first page was a medical record.
My name.
My mother's name.
My blood type.
My genetic profile.
Then I saw the date.
Sixteen years ago.
My hands began shaking.
The next page contained a note.
PATIENT: CLARA HART
AGE: 16
STATUS: PREGNANCY CONFIRMED
FETAL DEVELOPMENT: NORMAL
GENETIC MARKER: POSITIVE
I couldn't breathe.
I looked at Julian.
He stared at the page.
"You knew."
"No."
"You knew I had been pregnant."
"I didn't."
"Then why does your family's archive have my medical record?"
He looked devastated.
"I don't know."
I turned the page.
There was an ultrasound image.
A tiny shape.
A heartbeat.
My child.
My first child.
I pressed my fingers against the image.
"I don't remember this."
Maya moved closer.
"That's you?"
I nodded.
"And that's me?"
I looked at her.
"No."
She frowned.
"Then who?"
I stared at the ultrasound.
"The baby."
Maya's face changed.
"Me?"
I nodded.
"You."
She touched the page.
For several seconds, she said nothing.
Then she whispered:
"I was inside you."
My eyes filled with tears.
"Yes."
She looked at me.
"Why didn't you know?"
I couldn't answer.
Because I didn't know.
Because someone had stolen the memory.
Because someone had taken my baby.
Because everyone I trusted had lied.
I turned the page.
There was another document.
This one was signed.
My mother's signature.
And beneath it—
another signature.
Julian Blackwood.
My blood froze.
I stared at it.
The agreement.
The one Julian had told me about.
But this wasn't the document he described.
It was worse.
I read the first paragraph.
In the event that Clara Hart's pregnancy produces a viable child carrying the Blackwood hereditary marker, custody and genetic research rights shall be transferred to the Blackwood Foundation.
My hands began shaking.
"Research rights."
I looked at Julian.
"You signed this."
He nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"You knew."
"I knew about the agreement."
"You knew about the research."
"No."
"Then what did you think you were signing?"
"Custody protection."
I stared at him.
"Protection?"
"Your mother told me the foundation would protect the child."
"She lied."
"Yes."
I turned the page.
There was another signature.
Marianne Blackwood.
Then another.
A name I didn't recognize.
Dr. Elias Vale.
I looked at Vivian.
"Who is he?"
She went pale.
"You found him."
"Who is he?"
Vivian swallowed.
"The founder of the Aster Foundation."
"But Aster was shut down."
"It was."
"Then how is his name here?"
Vivian didn't answer.
Julian stepped closer.
"Because he never died."
I turned toward him.
"What?"
Julian pointed to the final page.
There was a photograph.
An older man.
Gray hair.
Cold eyes.
A thin scar across his cheek.
I had never seen him before.
But Maya gasped.
"I have."
Everyone looked at her.
"Where?"
She pointed at the photograph.
"He visited Grandma."
"When?"
"Last year."
My stomach tightened.
"What did he say?"
Maya shook her head.
"He told her she couldn't hide me forever."
I looked at Julian.
"Who is Elias Vale?"
Julian's voice was barely audible.
"He's my mother's father."
Silence.
I stared at him.
"Your grandfather?"
He nodded.
"The man everyone thought died twenty years ago."
Vivian closed the file.
"We have to leave."
I frowned.
"Why?"
"Because now they know we found this."
"How?"
She pointed to the ceiling.
A tiny red light was blinking.
A camera.
Someone had been watching us.
Julian immediately pulled his weapon.
"How long?"
Vivian looked at the camera.
"Long enough."
I grabbed Maya.
"Where do we go?"
"There's another exit."
We moved quickly.
But before we reached the door, Julian stopped.
"Wait."
He turned back.
"What?"
"The file."
He walked toward the table.
He picked up one loose sheet.
"What is that?"
He didn't answer.
I stepped closer.
It was a laboratory report.
At the top:
EMBRYOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
Two embryo identification numbers.
One had been transferred.
The other marked:
DESTROYED.
But beneath that word was another handwritten note.
TRANSFERRED TO PRIVATE FACILITY.
I looked at Vivian.
"Where?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know."
Julian looked at the bottom.
There was a date.
The same date as Sienna's pregnancy.
I felt sick.
"The second embryo."
Vivian nodded.
"Yes."
"It wasn't destroyed."
"No."
"Then where did it go?"
Nobody answered.
Maya suddenly spoke.
"Maybe it's not an embryo anymore."
I turned.
"What?"
She looked frightened.
"Grandma told me there was another child."
My blood ran cold.
"Another child?"
Maya nodded.
"She said there were two."
I looked at Daniel.
Then at the file.
Two embryos.
Two children.
One was Daniel.
The other—
I didn't know.
Vivian suddenly grabbed my arm.
"Clara."
"What?"
"We need to go."
"No."
I pulled away.
"Not until I know."
"We can find out later."
"No."
I pointed at the document.
"Someone created two embryos."
"One became Daniel."
"The other became what?"
Julian stared at the paper.
"I don't know."
Maya looked at him.
"I think you do."
Julian's face changed.
"What?"
"You visited the hospital."
"When?"
"Three months ago."
He stared at her.
"I never saw you."
"You didn't."
"Then how do you know?"
Maya swallowed.
"I saw you."
Julian stepped closer.
"Where?"
"Outside the children's ward."
He went pale.
"I was there because—"
He stopped.
"Because what?"
Maya stared at him.
"You were talking to a doctor."
"What doctor?"
"I don't know."
"What did he look like?"
"Old."
"Gray hair?"
Maya nodded.
"Scar?"
She nodded again.
Julian's face went completely white.
"Elias."
I stared at him.
"Your grandfather."
He nodded.
"He was alive."
"Yes."
"And you met him."
"I didn't know who he was."
"Then why were you talking to him?"
Julian looked at me.
"I was looking for the truth."
"What truth?"
"The truth about you."
My heart tightened.
"Why?"
"Because after the divorce, I discovered that your medical records had been altered."
I stared at him.
"How long after?"
"Three weeks."
"And you started investigating."
"Yes."
"Without telling me."
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because I was afraid."
I looked away.
Again.
Always fear.
Always secrets.
Always decisions made for me.
I was beginning to hate that word.
Fear.
It had destroyed my life.
A metallic crash echoed through the archive.
Everyone froze.
Then came footsteps.
Several people.
Approaching.
Vivian whispered:
"They're here."
Julian raised his weapon.
"How many?"
"At least six."
I held Daniel tighter.
Maya stood beside me.
"There's another way."
She pointed toward a narrow passage.
"Grandma showed me."
We ran.
The passage was dark and narrow.
Behind us, men shouted.
"Find them!"
"Don't let them escape!"
A gunshot exploded.
Maya grabbed my hand.
"This way!"
We turned a corner.
A steel door appeared.
Maya entered a code.
The door opened.
We rushed through.
Then she slammed it shut.
A heavy lock clicked.
For a few seconds, nobody breathed.
We were underground.
A tunnel.
I looked at Maya.
"How did you know the code?"
"Grandma taught me."
"How many times have you been here?"
"Twice."
"Why?"
"Because she told me that if anything happened, I should bring you here."
I stared at her.
"She knew this would happen."
Maya nodded.
"She knew they would come."
I looked at Julian.
"Who are they?"
He looked at the tunnel ahead.
"The people my family has been running from for twenty years."
"That doesn't make sense."
"It will."
He stopped.
Then turned toward me.
"My grandfather wasn't trying to build a medical empire."
I frowned.
"What was he trying to build?"
Julian's voice was quiet.
"An army."
I stared at him.
"An army?"
"Children genetically resistant to disease."
"Children who could survive things normal people couldn't."
Vivian nodded.
"And the research failed."
"Until Clara."
I froze.
"Until me?"
"Your genetic profile was the missing piece."
I looked at Daniel.
"And my children."
"Yes."
Suddenly, the tunnel lights turned on.
One by one.
A figure appeared at the far end.
An elderly man.
Gray hair.
Scar across his cheek.
Cold eyes.
Elias Vale.
He stood alone.
Clapping slowly.
"Very impressive."
Julian stepped in front of me.
"Stay away from her."
Elias smiled.
"I've waited sixteen years to meet her."
I tightened my arms around Daniel.
"You mean me."
His eyes moved toward the baby.
"No."
He smiled.
"I mean all three of you."
Maya stepped behind me.
Elias looked at her.
"Beautiful."
She trembled.
"You stole my life."
"No."
He smiled.
"Your grandmother did."
I looked at him.
"Where is my mother?"
Elias's expression became almost amused.
"Alive."
"Where?"
"Closer than you think."
I stepped forward.
"Tell me."
He shook his head.
"First, you must understand why your medical file disappeared."
I stared at him.
"Why?"
"Because the file doesn't prove you were infertile."
He paused.
"It proves something far more valuable."
"What?"
He smiled.
"That you can produce children who can survive the disease."
My stomach turned.
"You experimented on my children."
"No."
He looked at Daniel.
"We protected them."
I laughed bitterly.
"By stealing them?"
"By hiding them."
"From me."
"From everyone."
I stepped forward.
"You're a monster."
Elias didn't react.
Then he said something that made my blood run cold.
"Ask Julian what happened the night your first child was born."
I turned.
Julian's face had gone pale.
"What happened?"
He didn't answer.
"Julian."
Elias smiled.
"Tell her."
Julian closed his eyes.
"I was there."
I froze.
"At the birth?"
He nodded.
"I saw Maya."
My breath caught.
"You saw my daughter."
"Yes."
"And you knew she was alive."
"Yes."
"You knew for sixteen years."
"I was trying to find her."
"You held her?"
Tears filled his eyes.
"Once."
I stared at him.
"When?"
"The night she was born."
My voice broke.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
He looked at me.
"Because I was the one who handed her to your mother."
Silence.
The tunnel seemed to disappear around us.
I stared at the man I had once loved.
"You gave my daughter away."
"I saved her."
"You gave my daughter away."
"I was sixteen."
"What?"
His voice cracked.
"I was sixteen when I first met your mother."
I stared at him.
That wasn't possible.
Julian was older than me.
But not by much.
He continued.
"My family had already begun the research."
"Your mother came to my grandfather for help."
"She wanted to protect you."
"And I helped her."
I couldn't breathe.
Then he whispered:
"But I made one mistake."
"What?"
"I trusted my father."
He looked at Elias.
"And that's why they found Maya."
Elias smiled.
"At last."
Then the tunnel behind us exploded with light.
Men appeared at both ends.
We were surrounded.
Elias stepped forward.
"Give me the children."
I held Daniel tighter.
Maya grabbed my hand.
Julian raised his weapon.
"No."
Elias smiled.
"Then we finish what we started sixteen years ago."
And for the first time, I understood what the missing medical file really was.
It wasn't merely evidence.
It was a map.
A map showing exactly how my family had been manipulated—
and exactly how many people had been waiting for my children to be born.
The truth had finally found me.
May you like
But now—
it wanted my children too.
