[Keifer's POV]
The double doors of the surgical wing swung open with a heavy, final sound. Ci N stepped out. He wasn't wearing his usual confident stride. His surgical cap was in his hand, his scrubs were stained, and his eyes... his eyes were hollow.
I stood up, but my legs felt like they belonged to a ghost. I didn't ask for a report. I didn't need the data. I saw the answer in the way he couldn't look me in the face.
"Keifer..." Ci N's voice cracked. "The impact... the force when she hit the marble... it was too much. The placenta detached completely. We tried everything. We tried to restart the rhythm, but..."
He stopped, his head bowing. "The baby is gone, Keif. The Powerhouse... the software is offline."
The Collapse of the Empire
The world didn't explode. It didn't go dark. It just went silent. A cold, absolute vacuum sucked the air out of my lungs. My son. My legacy. The little "Lemon" that had waved at me on the screen. Gone.
Behind me, I heard a strangled, horrifying sound. Mamma Serina let out a wail that tore through the sterile hallway, her body going limp as she collapsed into Pappa Keizer's arms. Pappa, the man who had built our family like a fortress, held her tight, his own face wet with tears as he looked at the ceiling and prayed in a broken whisper for Jay's life.
Keiran was curled into a ball on one of the hospital chairs, his loud, heaving sobs echoing against the walls. "Ate Jay... the baby... no, no, no..."
Keigan walked toward me, his face pale, his hands shaking. He reached out to touch my shoulder, to try and bring me back from the abyss. "Keifer... Keif, listen to me..."
I didn't feel his hand. I didn't hear his voice. I was staring at the red "Surgery in Progress" sign.
"And Jay?" My voice was a dead thing. It didn't have a soul.
Ci N looked up, and the fear in his eyes doubled. "That's the other part, Keifer. The shock of the loss... the internal trauma... her body is failing. Her heart rate is erratic. She's slipping into septic shock. Jay's condition is moving from critical to terminal. We are losing her too."
The Final Order
Something snapped inside me. The grief for my child didn't disappear—it fused with a cold, terrifying rage to keep the one thing I had left. I grabbed Ci N by the front of his scrubs, slamming him against the wall.
"NO!" I roared, the sound vibrating in the chests of everyone in that hallway. "You listen to me, Ci N! You already let my son die! You let the Powerhouse go offline! You will NOT let her follow him!"
"Keifer, her vitals are dropping—"
"I don't care about the vitals! I don't care about the science!" I was shaking him, my eyes burning with a light that looked like madness. "I am Keifer Watson! I own the light! I own the time! You go back in there and you tell her system that I am NOT giving her permission to leave! 1,000% effort, Ci N! Bring. Her. Back!"
I let him go, and he stumbled back, nodding frantically before disappearing back through the red doors.
The Predator's Silence
I turned around. My family was a wreckage of grief. Mamma was still sobbing into Pappa's chest. Keigan was staring at the floor in a trance.
I walked over to the window, looking out at the city I ruled. It looked like a graveyard. I pulled my phone out, my movements slow and robotic. I called my head of security.
"Is Bridget in the sub-basement?" I asked.
"Yes, Sir. We have her."
"Keep her alive," I whispered, my eyes fixed on the reflection of the surgery doors behind me. "Keep her alive until I get there. Because if my wife doesn't wake up, I'm going to make Bridget wish she had died on those stairs instead of my son."
I leaned my forehead against the cold glass. Jay, please. Fight. Don't leave me in the dark.