Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
That man’s voice… the one talking to Yunice. Who was he?
His thoughts were interrupted by a call from Laurie.
“Mr. Wyatt,” Laurie said, her tone grim. “Elsie’s temperature is rising.”
That was the first sign the infection was progressing.
Wyatt’s voice turned cold. “Treat her. At all costs. I want to see if this disease can be cracked.”
Elsie was in his hands now-let her earn her keep.
If Yunice was infected, he’d use Elsie to test the drugs first. Whether she survived or not was irrelevant.
Yunice and Tommy were hauling another patient.
By the time the illness reached its midpoint, patients lost all ability to care for themselves. Turning them over to prevent bedsores or adjusting treatment became a massive task.
Some patients, disoriented by high fevers, lashed out. One had clawed off a volunteer’s mask two days ago. The man had cried on the spot and never returned.
The pressure on volunteers was overwhelming. There were fewer and fewer of them every day.
Even Tommy, usually cheerful, had fallen silent.
As a man, he naturally shouldered the heavier tasks-but Yunice knew he’d been going out of his way to take on more so she wouldn’t have to.
If he’d been paired with anyone else, he might have had it easier.
Yunice felt guilty.
Just as they finished repositioning the patient, someone called her name.
She turned to the door and saw someone in full protective gear labeled “Owen.”
They hadn’t seen much of each other these past few days-everyone was too busy.
“What is it?” she asked flatly.
The tone stung more than Owen expected. In this living tomb of a hospital, he’d thought he and Yunice would be each other’s greatest comfort.
But Yunice kept her distance.
After a long pause, Owen said, “We’ve been locked in here for seven days. I don’t know what’s happening outside…”
He hesitated. “Could I… borrow your walkie-talkie? Just for a moment. I want to talk to Elsie, make sure she’s okay.”
He licked his cracked lips. His voice was hoarse. “Everyone who helped with Mr. Gerardo, they’re all down now. Three have died. I’m worried about her.”
Yunice’s voice turned icy. “Shouldn’t you be blaming yourself? You’re the hospital director. If you’d done your job, maybe fewer people would be dead. If you hadn’t let Elsie roam into the ER, she wouldn’t be caught up in this.”
“What good does blaming me do now?” Owen snapped. “If you want someone to blame, blame Mr. Gerardo. Why’d he come here and drag everyone down with him?”
Yunice’s glare sharpened. “Hospitals exist to save lives. We don’t get to pick and choose who we treat.”
Owen’s voice dropped again. “I’m not as noble as you. I just want my family to be okay. I want Elsie to be okay. I want you to be okay.”
Yunice looked away.
Even now, she noticed, he still listed her name last.
When she stayed silent, Owen added quietly, “That day… I wasn’t wearing protection either. I helped clean Elsie up.”
He looked up, eyes ringed with fatigue behind the fogged plastic of his goggles.
“Did it ever occur to you… I might be infected too?” he whispered, his voice trembling. “I might not make it.”
Yunice didn’t answer. Not right away.
Because in this place, surrounded by death, uncertainty, and regret-sometimes silence was louder than any words.
Yunice looked at Owen with a heavy heart.
The virus was still undefeated. Mr. Gerardo, though kept alive by machines, was all but gone. Any doctor could see it-his internal organs had already failed.
There was no saving him.
Other patients were faring even worse-dying alone without seeing their loved ones one last time. Their bodies were collectively processed, and families were never even given a chance to grieve.
Owen said, “Yunice, we’re running out of time. Lives are counting down. Are we really going to keep tearing ourselves apart? Don’t you miss anyone? Don’t you want to know how they’re doing? Hear their voices?”
Wyatt’s face flashed across Yunice’s mind.
When she didn’t answer, Owen’s voice turned desperate. “Yunice, just let me talk to Elsie, to Mom, to Oscar-just one last time. If not for old times’ sake, then at least for Dad’s sake. Just help me, please.”
His eyes were red, tears soaking through his mask.
“You’re the only one who can help me now…” he said hoarsely.
But Yunice shook her head. “I can’t. You’re not the only one here who can’t contact their family. If I help you, I’d have to help everyone else too.”
“Excuses! Those are just excuses!” Owen shouted, voice cracking. “You’re still mad at me! You just want revenge! You’re really going to be this cold? You won’t budge, not even a little?”
She still didn’t change her mind.
Owen glared at her, full of resentment, then turned and stormed away.
Yunice’s refusal to let him use the intercom wasn’t out of spite.
She knew Elsie had already fallen ill-she’d been rushed to the lab for emergency treatment multiple times.
Owen cared deeply for her. If he found out Elsie’s condition was critical, he would lose his mind and try to reach her at all costs.
That would put not just the hospital, but the outside world at risk.
Yunice wouldn’t let that happen. She wouldn’t let others carry that burden-no matter the price, even if Elsie died, even if Owen never got to see her one last time, even if he hated her for it for the rest of his life.
That night, the volunteer teams took turns eating dinner.
Yunice sat across from Qi Xingchen, quietly eating her meal, when someone nearby whispered, “The ICU patient-the source case-is almost gone. There’s no point in trying to resuscitate anymore.”
Yunice’s hand froze mid-bite. She immediately thought of Taylor.
Back when she’d first been detained, Wyatt had given her a two-way radio. Taylor had cried through it a few times, begging Yunice to look after her father.
Maybe Wyatt had worried that Taylor would emotionally sway Yunice, because after that, he’d cut off all contact between them.
Now that Mr. Gerardo was beyond saving, a storm of emotions swirled in Yunice’s chest.
She’d lost a father too-she understood what he meant to Taylor.
Not getting to say goodbye would be Taylor’s lifelong regret.
After dinner, Yunice still went to the ICU.