Emerald Blaze

Epilogue

The hospital hallway lay shrouded in shadow. An older, distinguished man was waiting by the nurses’ station, a lone nurse nervously pacing by him. An elevator chimed quietly. The doors parted and an older woman stepped out, accompanied by a young man with a sharp haircut and dressed in a black suit.

The older man by the station raised his arms. “Where have you been?” he whispered.

“Spare me,” the older woman hissed. “This wasn’t exactly easy.”

“Hurry. We have fifteen minutes,” the nurse told them. “This baby is guarded like Fort Knox.”

She ushered the three of them into a room and shut the door. The young man in the suit parked himself by the door.

The older woman paced. “What if he’s a dud?”

“He is not a dud. None of them have been.”

She pressed her hands together and walked some more.

Hurried steps came from outside.

The door swung open and the same nurse entered, carrying a newborn, two guards behind her. The young man in a suit raised his hand and the two guards halted, their eyes blank.

The old woman rushed to the nurse and gently took the baby out of her arms. “Leave us.”

The nurse glanced at the older man. He nodded. She stepped outside and closed the door.

Tenderly, the old woman peeled off the blanket revealing the baby’s round face and tiny fists in pale mittens.

“What a beautiful boy. What a lovely, lovely boy.”

The older man grinned.

The woman rocked the baby and smiled. “Look, Trevor, isn’t he the most beautiful child you’ve ever seen?”

For the first time the young man in the suit spoke. “Yes, ma’am. He is.”