The Miracle Doctor

Chapter 7

The alarms screamed like sirens of war. Red emergency lights bathed the room in a haunting glow as the ground trembled beneath Ethan’s feet.

Leanna pulled him back just as a steel beam crashed beside them, sparks bursting into the air.

“Ethan, we have to move!” she shouted.

But he couldn’t look away from the woman standing in the broken pod.

Subject Beta — the woman from his memory, from the photograph — was alive. And yet… not.

Her skin was pale as porcelain, veins faintly glowing beneath the surface. The liquid from the pod pooled at her feet like liquid glass, and when she lifted her gaze, her eyes shimmered with unnatural light — luminous blue, almost otherworldly.

“You came back,” she said again, her voice soft but echoing with static, as if layered with another presence.

Ethan stepped closer despite the danger. “Do you know who you are?”

Her expression trembled, pain flashing across her features. “I… was someone once. You told me not to be afraid.”

Ethan’s chest tightened. “I did?”

“Yes,” she whispered, “before everything went dark.”

Behind them, soldiers advanced, guns drawn. “Dr. Braxton!” one barked. “Step away from the subject!”

Leanna raised her weapon. “Not a chance.”

Before the soldier could fire, the woman turned, and the air around her rippled. A blinding surge of blue energy exploded outward, hurling everyone backward. The walls cracked, glass shattered, and the metal catwalks above them collapsed in a rain of sparks.

Ethan shielded Leanna as debris fell around them. When the dust cleared, the soldiers were down, unconscious, their rifles twisted like melted wire.

The woman’s body trembled violently. “It’s happening again,” she whispered, clutching her head. “I can’t stop it…”

Ethan rushed to her side. “You’re not alone. Just hold on…”

Her hand shot out instinctively, gripping his wrist. For an instant, images flooded his mind — memories not from now, but from before — her lying on a hospital bed, him standing over her in a white coat, promising:

“You’ll live, I swear it. I won’t lose you.”

Then the vision shattered.

Ethan staggered back, gasping. The woman’s eyes dimmed. “They used me, Ethan,” she said softly. “Voss used both of us.”

Leanna grabbed his arm. “We need to leave now! The whole place is coming down!”

He nodded, snapping back to reality. “Can you walk?” he asked the woman.

She nodded weakly. “Yes… but not for long.”

The facility shook violently as they ran through the corridors, dodging falling panels and sparks raining from the ceiling. Ethan guided the woman with one arm while Leanna covered their flank. Everywhere they turned, chaos followed — containment pods exploding, computer screens flashing SYSTEM FAILURE. The air filled with smoke and the sound of groaning metal.

At the end of the hall, a reinforced door led to the surface lift.

Leanna sprinted ahead, inputting the manual override. “It’s jammed!” she cursed. “The power’s down.”

Ethan glanced around, his eyes landing on the main control hub nearby. “If we reroute the backup supply, we can force the lift open.”

Leanna gave him a look. “You’re sure you remember how?”

He managed a faint smile. “Guess we’ll find out.”

He ran to the console, fingers flying across the interface. Sparks flared, systems rebooted, and after a tense few seconds, the lift’s doors began to groan open.

But then — a slow clap echoed through the smoke.

Ethan froze.

From the corridor behind them, a figure emerged — tall, wearing a black tactical coat, face half-hidden by shadows.

“Bravo, Doctor,” the man said, voice dripping with amusement. “You found her.”

Ethan’s stomach twisted. “Voss.”

Dr. Voss stepped forward, his expression almost… proud. “You never could leave well enough alone. Even death couldn’t teach you obedience.”

Ethan stepped between him and the woman. “You turned her into a weapon.”

Voss’s smile thinned. “A necessary evolution. Project Lazarus was about transcending death — and she did. You should be celebrating me, not running from me.”

Ethan’s voice hardened. “You experimented on her. You destroyed her life.”

Voss tilted his head. “And yours. But look how far it brought you.”

Leanna raised her gun. “Move, Voss.”

He didn’t even flinch. “Shoot, if you like. It won’t change the fact that she’s dying.”

Ethan turned sharply. “What?”

Voss pointed toward the woman, whose faint glow had begun to flicker. “Her system is failing. Without the stabilizer, she’ll burn out in hours. But don’t worry — I can save her… again.”

Ethan’s jaw clenched. “Never.”

Voss smirked. “Then watch her die.”

He pressed a button on his wrist device. The floor shuddered. Explosives detonated deep within the structure, sending waves of dust and fire roaring through the corridor.

Leanna grabbed Ethan and the woman. “GO!”

They dove into the lift just as the tunnel behind them erupted. The doors slammed shut, and the lift shot upward, metal screeching as the explosion chased them.

The woman slumped against Ethan, her skin cold, her pulse faint.

“Ethan,” she whispered weakly, “he’s lying… there’s a backup… in your lab…”

“Where in the lab?” he asked urgently.

Her eyes fluttered. “Under… the glass…”

Then she went limp.

Ethan held her close as the lift reached the surface, bursting through a layer of debris into the pale dawn.

The facility behind them collapsed completely, vanishing beneath clouds of smoke.

Leanna turned to him, catching her breath. “Ethan, is she…?”

He checked her pulse. It was faint but steady. “She’s alive. But she’s fading fast.”

Leanna looked at him, worried, flickering behind her eyes. “What now?”

Ethan stood slowly, his gaze hardening as he stared at the smoldering ruins of Sector Nine.

“Now,” he said coldly, “we bring her back. And then… I finish what Voss started.”

That night, in a distant city tower, Voss watched the explosion replay on a monitor.

He smiled faintly and turned to his assistant.

“He’s remembering faster than I anticipated,” Voss said.

“Should we stop him?” the assistant asked.

“No,” Voss replied. “Let him remember. The truth will destroy him better than I ever could.”