The Miracle Doctor

Chapter 8

Rain lashed the city as Ethan’s convoy sped through the midnight streets.

Subject Beta lay unconscious in the back seat, her skin pale under the dim cabin light, the faint blue veins along her neck dimming with every passing second.

Leanna drove fast, weaving through traffic with calm precision, though the tension in her jaw betrayed the urgency beneath.

Ethan sat beside the woman, his hand pressed to her wrist, counting every weak, faltering beat.

“Stay with me,” he murmured. “Don’t give up now.”

Her breathing came shallow and slow. The glow beneath her skin pulsed once more—then faded almost completely.

Leanna’s voice broke the silence. “Ethan, whatever’s happening to her, we can’t keep her stable for long.”

He stared ahead, determination burning in his eyes. “She said the stabilizer’s under the glass. That means the lower vault in my lab.”

Leanna frowned. “That lab hasn’t been touched in years. It could be sealed.”

Ethan’s tone hardened. “Then I’ll unseal it.”

An hour later, they stormed into Braxton Pharmaceuticals under the cover of night.

Security guards froze, too stunned to question the CEO’s return—especially with an unconscious woman in his arms and Leanna at his side, both soaked from the storm.

They reached the elevator leading to the restricted lower levels.

Leanna keyed in her override, but it required Ethan’s biometric confirmation before unlocking.

As the elevator descended, Ethan kept his gaze on the woman. Her hair clung to her face, rainwater trailing down her cheeks. She looked fragile, yet he knew there was something extraordinary within her—something he had created… something Voss had twisted.

Leanna finally spoke. “Ethan, who do you think she is to you?”

He hesitated, voice low. “When I touched her, I saw fragments—her on a hospital bed, me promising to save her.”

He swallowed hard. “But it felt… personal.”

Leanna’s eyes narrowed. “Personal how?”

He didn’t answer.

The elevator stopped. They stepped out into the lower vault—a vast circular room of glass and steel. At its center stood a massive transparent floor panel etched with the Braxton insignia. Beneath it, darkness.

Leanna frowned. “There’s nothing here.”

Ethan wiped dust from the control console. The system flickered to life, a familiar voice echoing through the room:

“Welcome back, Dr. Braxton. Sublevel Three access requires biometric verification.”

He pressed his palm to the scanner. The glass floor hummed, then retracted, revealing a spiral staircase descending into the dark.

Leanna’s eyes widened. “You hid a lab… under your lab?”

Ethan said nothing. He was already descending.

The hidden chamber below was pristine, untouched by time.

Rows of machines flickered awake as he approached. At the center stood a cylindrical containment unit—half medical pod, half power core—connected to a massive processor. Inside it glowed a vial of blue serum.

Leanna’s voice was barely a whisper. “What is that?”

Ethan stared at it, memories stirring. “The Lazarus Stabilizer,” he said quietly. “It repairs cellular decay after neural reconstruction. It stops the body from rejecting resurrection.”

He opened the containment unit and gently placed Subject Beta inside. Her breathing was shallow, her pulse barely there.

Leanna watched as Ethan’s hands moved with surgical precision—instinctive, confident. Despite the amnesia, his old skill had resurfaced effortlessly.

“Scalpel,” he murmured, then stopped, realizing Leanna had no tray. He shook his head. “Never mind. Habit.”

He injected the serum into her neck.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then her back arched violently, light surging through her veins.

Monitors blazed alive, data streaming across the screens.

Her heart rate spiked—then steadied.

Leanna gasped. “It’s working.”

Ethan held his breath as the glow softened into natural color. Slowly, the woman’s eyes opened—still faintly blue, but human again.

Her lips trembled. “Ethan…?”

He nodded. “You’re safe now.”

But she shook her head weakly. “No. No one’s safe. Voss… he isn’t trying to kill you. He’s trying to finish the transfer.”

Ethan frowned. “Transfer? What transfer?”

Her hand gripped his. “Project Lazarus wasn’t about healing. It was about replacing.”

Leanna stiffened. “Replacing what?”

The woman’s voice broke, tears glinting in her eyes. “Souls.”

Ethan froze. “You mean… consciousness transfer?”

She nodded slowly. “He tested it first on me. My body died, but he brought my mind back—altered it, merged it. I’m not who I was. I’m what he made.”

Ethan’s voice trembled. “Who were you?”

She hesitated, then whispered, “Your wife.”

The world seemed to stop.

The air grew heavy.

Leanna’s breath caught. “Your… wife?”

Memories slammed into Ethan—wedding laughter, hospital corridors, her voice whispering Don’t let go.

“Tilda,” he breathed. “No… it can’t be…”

The woman shook her head faintly. “Not Tilda. Elara. Before Tilda. Before the accident. I was your wife, Ethan. And Voss killed me to perfect his experiment.”

Ethan staggered, gripping the console as fragmented memories pierced through—rings, vows, blood, loss.

Leanna stood frozen, sympathy shadowing her face. “Ethan…”

Before he could answer, the lights flickered.

The monitors went black.

Then Voss’s voice filled the room, smooth and venomous.

“Touching reunion, isn’t it? My two greatest creations in one place. The husband who defied death… and the wife who became it.”

Ethan glared up at the cameras, fury blazing. “This isn’t over, Voss.”

Voss chuckled. “It’s just beginning. You’ll come to me soon enough, Doctor. You always do—even in death.”

The line cut. Silence fell.

Leanna turned sharply. “He knows where we are.”

Ethan’s jaw tightened. “Then we move before he does. I’m not losing her again.” His voice carried a conviction that startled even him.

He turned to the woman—to Elara—her trembling hand clutching his sleeve.

“We have to finish Lazarus,” she whispered. “It’s the only way to stop him.”

Ethan nodded slowly, the weight of buried memories pressing down on him.

“Then we finish it… together.”