Chapter 7 - The Race Against Time
“Clara! Clara, stay with me!” Dominic pleaded, lowering her to the floor and pulling her into his lap.
Her skin was growing colder by the second, her dark veins pulsing visibly against her neck. The toxin was reaching its final stage.
“The… the rabbit…” Clara whispered, her eyes fluttering shut. “Inside… the lining…”
Dominic turned back toward his office wall and screamed at the top of his lungs: “LILY! BRING ME THE RABBIT! NOW!”
Inside the office, I heard my father’s voice. I didn't hesitate. I pushed the heavy steel door release switch, grabbed my bunny by its floppy ears, and ran out into the hallway as fast as my tiny bare feet could carry me.
The air smelled like fire and metal, but I didn't care. I ran past the broken glass, past the men in black suits, straight to where my mother lay in Dominic’s arms.
“Here, Daddy! Here!” I held out the rabbit.
Dominic didn't waste a second. He pulled his pocket knife and sliced open the back seam of the plush toy. Out fell a small, silver auto-injector sealed in vacuum plastic.
Without hesitation, Dominic ripped the plastic open and pressed the needle firmly into Clara’s thigh.
A heavy silence descended upon the hallway.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
Clara’s body violently convulsed. She took a massive, gasping breath of air, her eyes flying open. The purple tint on her lips began to recede, replaced by a flush of natural pink. The dark veins along her neck faded into nothingness.
She blinked through her tears, looking up at the man holding her.
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“Dominic?” she whispered, her hand rising to touch his bearded cheek.
Dominic buried his face in her neck, sobbing uncontrollably. “I’m here, my love. I’m here. You’re home.”
