Chapter 14 - The Awakening
It took six hours for the stasis protocols to reverse.
Ethan sat in a chair beside the medical bed, watching the monitors as the green line of her brain activity slowly began to spike into sharp, healthy patterns. The grey, sickly tint in the old woman's skin was gradually replaced by a flush of natural color as the synthetic paralyzing agents flushed out of her bloodstream.
At 4:00 AM, her fingers twitched.
Her eyes fluttered open—deep, intelligent brown eyes that looked around the white room with sudden, frantic confusion before settling on Ethan's face.
"Where... where am I?" she rasped, her voice dry and weak, echoing the exact tone of Samuel on the sidewalk three months prior.
Ethan reached down, picking up a small glass of fresh water from the nightstand. He gently lifted her head, placing the straw against her dry lips.
"Drink slowly, Mrs. Sterling," Ethan said softly. "You're safe. The company is gone. Your husband and daughter are in federal prison."
She swallowed the cold water, her breathing stabilizing as she looked up at the young man holding the glass. Tears began to gather in the corners of her eyes—not tears of panic, but of profound, overwhelming relief.
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"Julianna..." the old woman whispered, her voice choking. "Did she... did she ever stop him?"
"No," Ethan said gently, placing the glass back on the table. "She became him."
