The Old Wing

Protocol demanded she call the police. Protocol demanded she alert Dr. Aris.

But protocol had killed Toby.

Elena looked at Mike. "Go to the desk. Tell them it was a drunk who wandered off before we could admit him."

"Elena, are you crazy?" Mike hissed. "That guy... he’s not human."

"He’s a patient," Elena said, her voice hard. "Go. Now."

Mike hesitated, then fled the room.

Elena turned back to Kael. "Can you walk?"

He nodded. He slid off the gurney, towering over her. He was at least six-four, moving with a predatory grace that unsettled her. But when he looked at her, his expression wasn't aggressive. It was terrified.

"The Old Wing," Elena whispered. "It's under renovation. No cameras. Follow me."

She led him through the labyrinth of the hospital, swiping her badge at restricted doors, guiding him away from the active corridors. They moved into the West Tower, where the air grew dusty and the smell of antiseptic was replaced by drywall and sawdust.

She brought him to a supply closet filled with drop cloths and boxes of outdated saline. Kael sat heavily on a stack of tiles.

"You're a Chimera," Elena said, kneeling to check his pulse. It was slow now, steady and powerful. "I read about the theoretical papers in nursing school. Gene splicing. But that was science fiction."

"Private military contracting," Kael corrected. "They wanted the perfect soldier. Apex predator DNA for senses and healing. Human DNA for tactical intelligence."

"Why are you running?"

Kael looked at his hands. They were trembling slightly. "Because the human DNA... it works too well. They wanted killers. They got... consciousness."

He looked up at her. "I refused an order to liquidate a village in Yemen. They marked me for termination. They call us 'failed assets.'"

Elena reached out and touched the fresh scar on his shoulder. His skin was burning hot, his metabolism running at a fever pitch to fuel the healing.

"You're not an asset," she said softly. "You're a person."

Kael flinched at her touch, then leaned into it, closing his eyes. It was a gesture of such profound exhaustion that it broke Elena’s heart.

"They are coming," Kael whispered. "The Sweepers. They track the isotope in my blood. You need to leave me, Elena. Run."

"I don't run," Elena said, pulling a blanket from a shelf and draping it over him. "I fix things."

* Bing-Bong.*

The hospital PA system chimed.

"Code Orange. Code Orange. Bio-hazard containment initiated. All personnel remain in your designated zones. No entry or exit permitted."

Elena froze. Code Orange was for chemical spills or infectious outbreaks. It locked the magnetic seals on every exterior door.

"They're here," Kael said.