Chapter 13: The First Step
The biometric device had been designed before Adrian’s crash.
It required a standing posture, facial recognition, and a full handprint.
Evelyn smiled.
“Your father believed you would always be a
ble to stand.”
Adrian looked at the scanner.
The platform was only six feet away.
For everyone else, it was nothing.
For him, it was an ocean.
Maya brought the wheelchair closer.
“We can lift you.”
“The system measures weight distribution,” Hannah said. “He has to support himself.”
Adrian’s hands tightened around the armrests.
Caleb knelt beside him.
“The feeling is still there.”
“I moved once.”
“You moved twice.”
“That doesn’t mean I can stand.”
Caleb looked directly into his eyes.
“You told me you wouldn’t leave.”
Adrian understood.
He had spent nine years being told what he could not do.
Hale’s medications were still weakening his muscles. Fear had become another restraint.
Grant placed himself on Adrian’s left side.
Hannah stood on his right.
Adrian pushed down against the armrests.
Nothing happened.
Evelyn lifted the remote.
“Time is running out.”
He tried again.
Pain burned through his legs.
His knees shook.
Then his body rose.
Only an inch.
Then two.
Hannah supported his elbow but did not carry his weight.
Adrian locked his knees.
He stood.
The room became silent.
His entire body trembled as he took one dragging step toward the scanner.
Then another.
Caleb walked backward in front of him.
“Keep looking at me.”
Adrian reached the platform.
He placed his palm against the glass.
The system scanned his face.
BIOMETRIC AUTHORIZATION ACCEPTED.
Hannah entered William’s code.
DEBT TRANSFER SUSPENDED.
The tablet went dark.
Evelyn pressed the remote anyway.
Nothing happened.
Adrian collapsed into Grant’s arms.
Maya placed Evelyn in restraints.
But Evelyn was smiling again.
“You think this was the only company tied to that code?”
Adrian looked up.
“What did you do?”
“A payment was released ten minutes ago.”
“To whom?”
Evelyn glanced toward Hannah.
“To the man ordered to remove the final witness.”
Hannah’s face changed.
She whispered one name.
May you like
“Dr. Hale.”
At that moment, every light in the hospital where Hannah had been treated went out.
