Chapter 11 - The Rooftop Extraction
Dr. Mercer collapsed instantly, the syringe shattering on the linoleum floor.
Nora didn't wait. She bolted past Roman, throwing herself through the door of room 402 just as Petrov raised his sidearm. Roman lunged forward, tackling Petrov into the corridor wall, the sheer impact tearing Roman’s freshly closed wound completely open. Both men crashed onto the floor in a tangle of limbs and brutal strikes.
Inside the room, Nora disconnected Mia’s IV line with lightning speed, securing the portable oxygen bottle to the transport gurney. “Mia, baby, look at mommy,” Nora whispered, her hands moving with frantic accuracy. The little girl’s eyes fluttered open beneath the oxygen mask, wide and glassy with fear.
“Mommy... it hurts,” the child whimpered.
“I know, baby. Mommy’s here. We’re leaving.”
Outside in the corridor, a deafening shot rang out. Nora looked up through the glass. Petrov lay motionless against the wall, a neat hole centered in his forehead. Standing over him was Roman, his gun smoking, his knees shaking uncontrollably as crimson poured freely down his trousers. He slumped against the doorframe, looking down at the little girl on the bed.
Mia stared at him through the glass. Her tiny, pale hand lifted toward the window, her fingers curling in a fragile wave.
Roman’s hardened jaw trembled. He reached up, pressing his bloody palm against the glass right where the child’s hand rested. For a fraction of a second, the mob boss vanished, leaving only a broken man looking at the miracle he had never known he created.
“Roof,” Marco yelled from the end of the hall, dragging a fresh ammunition box. “Petrov’s second wave is coming up the south stairs. The medevac chopper is landing on the pad now!”
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Roman tore his eyes away from the girl, his face gray with oncoming unconsciousness. “Get her to the roof, Nora. Don't look back.”
As they pushed the gurney into the storm on the helipad, three armored vehicles smashed through the street barricades below, unleashing heavy machine-gun fire toward the rooftop.
