CHAPTER 6 — THE BOY WHO SHOULDN'T EXIST
The little boy vanished into the darkness.
"Nathan!"
Officer Collins shouted, but Nathan was already running.
He burst through the hospital's automatic doors and sprinted across the parking lot.
"Stop!"
The boy glanced over his shoulder for only a second.
Hazel eyes.
Messy brown hair.
Barely eight years old.
For one impossible moment, Nathan felt as if he were looking at Daniel.
Then the child disappeared between two parked delivery trucks.
Nathan reached the alley only seconds later.
Empty.
No footsteps.
No movement.
Nothing.
Officer Collins caught up, breathing hard.
"Did you see where he went?"
Nathan slowly shook his head.
"He was right here."
A hospital security guard hurried over.
"Sir, is everything okay?"
Officer Collins flashed her badge.
"We're looking for a boy. About eight years old. Gray hoodie. Hospital wristband."
The guard frowned.
"I didn't see any child."
Nathan looked around again.
Then something caught his eye.
On the wet pavement lay a folded piece of paper.
He picked it up.
Inside was a child's drawing.
Four stick figures stood beneath a large house.
Three of them were colored blue.
The fourth...
was colored red.
Above the red child, written in uneven handwriting, were three words:
I'M STILL HERE.
Nathan felt a chill crawl up his spine.
Back inside the hospital...
Rebecca Lawson met them outside the records department.
"We found something else."
She handed Officer Collins an old admissions ledger.
"We still keep handwritten copies from that year."
Nathan immediately flipped through the fragile pages.
Every newborn admitted that week had a name.
Except one.
Patient Number:
H-04
Mother:
Restricted
Father:
Restricted
Nathan frowned.
"Who authorizes something like this?"
Rebecca answered quietly.
"Only the hospital board."
Officer Collins looked up.
"And who chaired the board eight years ago?"
Rebecca hesitated.
Then answered.
"Charles Harrington."
Nathan froze.
"My father."
An uneasy silence filled the room.
Officer Collins slowly closed the ledger.
"So your father chaired the hospital."
Nathan nodded.
"For almost twenty years."
Rebecca added another detail.
"Dr. Whitmore reported directly to him."
Nathan leaned against the table.
Pieces were beginning to connect.
His father.
Whitmore.
The missing child.
The forged signatures.
But one question refused to disappear.
"Why?"
Across town...
Dr. Whitmore sat alone inside an interrogation room.
His hands rested calmly on the metal table.
Detective Harris entered carrying a thick folder.
"You've had an interesting career."
Whitmore smiled.
"I've helped thousands of children."
Harris opened the folder.
"Three former nurses disappeared."
Whitmore said nothing.
"Two accountants died in suspicious accidents."
Still nothing.
"One pediatric specialist resigned after accusing you of altering medical records."
Whitmore finally spoke.
"Allegations aren't convictions."
Harris leaned closer.
"No."
"But patterns matter."
Whitmore's smile faded.
"You think you've uncovered a monster."
Harris remained silent.
Whitmore looked toward the one-way mirror.
"You haven't."
"Then who have we uncovered?"
Whitmore's eyes hardened.
"A businessman who believed blood mattered more than truth."
Harris frowned.
"Charles Harrington?"
Whitmore looked away.
He neither confirmed nor denied it.
Meanwhile...
Victoria sat alone in another interview room.
Nathan entered without speaking.
For several seconds, they simply looked at each other.
Finally, Victoria broke the silence.
"You saw the drawing."
Nathan stared.
"How did you know?"
"Because he always leaves one."
Nathan's heartbeat quickened.
"You know who that boy is."
Victoria nodded.
"I've seen him before."
"Who is he?"
She looked directly into his eyes.
"I don't know his name."
"But Daniel does."
Nathan's expression changed.
"What?"
"Three months ago I woke up in the middle of the night."
Victoria's voice became quieter.
"Daniel wasn't in his bed."
"I found him outside."
Nathan frowned.
"Outside where?"
"Near the old greenhouse."
She swallowed.
"He was talking to someone."
Nathan felt his pulse rise.
"The boy?"
Victoria nodded.
"I only saw him for a second."
"What were they saying?"
Victoria closed her eyes, trying to remember.
"Daniel kept crying."
"He said..."
She paused.
Nathan leaned forward.
"What did he say?"
"'I won't leave you again.'"
Nathan stared at her.
"And the other boy?"
Victoria whispered,
"He answered..."
"'You already did.'"
Nathan left the room without another word.
He found Officer Collins in the hallway.
"We need to speak to Daniel."
"The doctors just stabilized him."
"Can he talk?"
"For a few minutes."
Nathan nodded.
"I need those few minutes."
Daniel's hospital room was dimly lit.
Machines hummed softly around the bed.
The boy looked impossibly small beneath the white blanket.
When he saw Nathan, his eyes filled with relief.
"Dad..."
Nathan took his hand.
"I'm here."
Daniel hesitated.
Then looked toward Officer Collins.
"Will she arrest Mommy?"
Nathan answered honestly.
"I don't know."
Daniel nodded slowly.
Then whispered,
"She wasn't the worst one."
Nathan's heart sank.
"Who was?"
Daniel looked toward the ceiling.
As if afraid someone might be listening.
Finally...
he whispered one name.
"Grandpa."
Nathan stopped breathing.
"My grandfather?" Officer Collins asked.
Daniel shook his head.
"No."
"My grandpa."
Nathan's voice trembled.
"You mean Charles Harrington?"
Daniel nodded.
"He used to come to the blue room."
Nathan exchanged a stunned glance with Collins.
"What blue room, Daniel?"
The boy squeezed Nathan's hand.
"The room under the hospital."
Nathan felt every muscle in his body tighten.
"There isn't a room under the hospital."
Daniel slowly turned his head.
"There is."
His lips began to tremble.
"He took us there..."
Nathan's throat tightened.
"Us?"
Daniel nodded weakly.
"Me..."
"...Emma..."
He stopped.
Tears rolled down his cheeks.
"And another little boy."
Nathan leaned closer.
"What little boy?"
Daniel whispered so softly that Nathan almost missed it.
"He looked exactly like me."
The heart monitor suddenly began beeping faster.
A nurse hurried in.
"That's enough."
Daniel's eyes drifted closed.
Just before sleep pulled him under, he whispered one final sentence.
"He told me..."
"...we're brothers."
Nathan stood frozen beside the bed.
Outside the room, Officer Collins received a call.
She listened for several seconds.
Then looked up at Nathan.
"The forensic team found architectural plans for St. Mary's."
Nathan searched her face.
"And?"
Collins unfolded the blueprint.
Beneath the hospital's basement level...
there was another floor.
One that did not appear on any public record.
Its original label had been crossed out with black ink.
May you like
But the old lettering was still faintly visible.
BLUE WARD.
