Filed to story: The Daughter in the Shadows (Yunice) Book by Una Norris
As soon as she saw him disappear through the door, Yunice slammed it shut and grabbed Owen. “Come with me.”
Outside, Wyatt paused and looked back at the tightly closed door, brows furrowed.
His radio continued crackling, calling for reassembly. He turned and rejoined the team, leaving the hospital behind.
At the extraction point, Jordan looked him over. “You didn’t bring her?”
If Yunice had given the word, Wyatt would’ve arranged a swap and gotten her out.
But knowing her, he’d suspected she wouldn’t go.
Wyatt’s radio buzzed again-it was Yunice.
“Are you out?” she asked.
He glanced back toward the hospital. “I’m outside.”
“Don’t skip decontamination,” she warned. “You better not.”
Back inside, Yunice was already pulling Owen toward a chair, pressing a thermometer to his forehead.
37.5?C. Low-grade fever. And those red spots…
Her heart sank.
Still in denial, she grabbed a mercury thermometer and tucked it under his arm.
Owen blinked, slowly coming to his senses. He saw the pallor in Yunice’s face, the tightness in her eyes.
Then he looked at the digital thermometer sitting on the table. The numbers stared back at him like a sentence.
He pulled up his sleeve.
More red dots.
His stomach dropped. The blood drained from his face.
He stared at Yunice, legs shaking.
Yunice looked right back, just as shaken. She, so usually clear-headed and decisive, had no plan this time.
Because there was no plan.
This illness couldn’t be cured.
Before she could speak, Owen shot to his feet. Panic written all over him, he scrambled to pull on gloves, layered masks over his face, and backed away from her.
“I’m infected,” he said hoarsely.
“You have to get out! Now!” he shouted, when she didn’t move.
“Go!”
Snapping out of her daze, Yunice grabbed her unfinished case notes, turned, and walked out.
Bang. The door slammed shut behind her.
Inside, silence fell.
Owen stood frozen, chest heaving. Seconds later, his knees buckled, and he sank to the ground.
Outside, Yunice stood still, eyes shut tightly. Then she pulled up the hospital’s internal line and called Tommy.
“Tommy… Owen is a suspected case. Report it.”
A few minutes later, two med staff in full suits escorted Owen out.
His arms were held, and as he passed Yunice, he looked at her with desperation and pleading in his eyes.
“Yunice… the Saunders family is counting on you…”
Right now, a diagnosis meant a death sentence.
Yunice lowered her eyes. She didn’t respond. She wasn’t even sure she’d make it out herself.
As he was pulled further away, Owen shouted, “Yunice! Owen’s leaving now!”
It sounded like a farewell.
Like a final goodbye.
He was taken toward the isolation ward.
Yunice didn’t move.
Tommy placed a hand on her shoulder-a silent gesture of comfort.
But right now, any words would sound hollow. Until a cure was found, survival was just a matter of luck.
Yunice’s eyes turned red with helpless sorrow.
In just a few short weeks, everyone around her had fallen-one by one.
And now, it was someone from her own side.
“You’re the only one from Mr. Gerardo’s first-contact list who hasn’t been infected. Maybe you’re just lucky-a special case,” Tommy said, trying to stay hopeful.
It wasn’t impossible.
“If you’re still worried, you can apply to join Owen’s treatment study,” he added.
“I’m in,” Yunice said immediately.
Wellinges Pharma’s targeted treatment had shown promise-at least, it had prolonged Elsie’s critical period by five days. That was enough reason for Yunice to act.
She decided to join the special task team and use Owen as the clinical subject to apply Wellinges Pharma’s research in practice.
When the task team surrounded Owen’s bed, the moment he saw Yunice, he looked stunned. “What are you doing here? Get out!”
He was afraid she might get infected too. If the Saunders family had to lose someone, better it not be all of them-not all in their own hospital.
“She proposed the experimental treatment,” the attending doctor said. “It’s showing promise, so we’re allowing her to participate in the trial.”
“Treatment?” Owen’s hollow, sunken eyes flared with a sliver of life. He sat up abruptly. “Don’t be ridiculous. She doesn’t know the first thing about medicine-“
“I’m backed by Wellinges Pharma. Got it?” Yunice cut him off, impatient.
Owen froze, and then finally understood what she meant.
Yunice didn’t have the credentials-but Wellinges Pharma could hand her the patents, the credit. They were giving her a golden badge to wear. A chance to shine, even if it was symbolic.
After the data was collected, Owen called her over privately.