Chapter 7 - Surgical Precision
The abandoned machine shop smelled of motor oil and burnt copper. Nora ripped open a surgical pack under the harsh yellow glare of an overhead halogen lamp, setting up an improvised operating field on a grease-stained steel workbench. Roman lay stripped to the waist, unconscious, his skin cold and clammy.
“Hold the retractors,” Nora ordered Marco, who looked visibly ill despite his hardened reputation. “If you let your hand slip, I cut his inferior vena cava, and he dies before you can draw another breath.”
Marco nodded dumbly, his broad hands gripping the stainless steel instruments.
Nora didn't hesitate. She flushed the infected wound with sterile saline, ignoring the stench of torn, devitalized tissue. With steady, practiced movements honed through years in chaotic emergency trauma wards, she located the severed bleeder beneath the muscle layer, clamping it with a curved hemostat.
Her mind raced as she placed suture after suture through the torn abdominal wall. Why would Roman Vance’s family match Mia’s rare phenotype? The thought haunted her with every throw of the surgical needle. Mia’s father had been an anonymous donor through a high-end Swiss clinic six years ago—a desperate choice Nora had made when her life was simple and devoid of bloodshed.
Roman’s vitals stabilized slowly as the second bag of fluids emptied into his vein. Nora tied off the final knot, dressing the incision with sterile gauze and wide strips of surgical tape. She washed her hands in a bucket of disinfected water, her body trembling with exhaustion.
Marco stepped away, wiping sweat from his face. “You saved his life, nurse. In our world, that makes you either family or a liability.”
“I don't care about your world,” Nora said cold, turning toward the bench where the damaged tablet lay. “I want to know why Roman’s bloodline connects to my child.”
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Behind them, a low, rasping voice answered from the workbench. “Because six years ago, my brother sold his DNA to a Zurich bio-bank before I put him in the ground.”
Nora spun around. Roman was awake, watching her through half-lidded, predatory eyes.
