Part 62 (1/2)

She managed to pull herself onto her feet, but then she sagged and collapsed against Stone as he pulled her to him.

As one of the nurses grabbed the newly arrived gurney and pulled it over, Van de Vliet and Ellen O'Hara seized her out of Stone's arms and lifted her onto it.

”You'll have to leave now,” Van de Vliet said to Stone. ”I'm sorry.”

”I'm not going anywhere. I promised her I'd stay by her side and, by G.o.d, I intend to do just that.”

”I'll determine what's best for her,” he replied. ”Please go up to the reception area. I'll let you know how she is.”

”I'm not leaving.”

”Then I'll call our security and have you removed from the premises.”

”Stone,” Ally said her eyelids flickering, ”it's okay. I want you to tell my mother I'm here. She's in room two-thirteen, upstairs, the last time I saw her.”

”You've got it. Don't worry. I'll take care of everything.”

She heard him saying that, but then she thought she heard another voice inside her head begging him not to leave. It was the last thought she had before the world went entirely white.

_Wednesday, April 8

7:39 P.M.

_Ellen O'Hara watched the scene with mounting dismay. She'd overheard Dr. Van de Vliet talking to Debbie about the procedure scheduled for Alexa Hampton. Then she'd checked the schedule that had been put into the database. It turned out that Alexa Hampton had two procedures scheduled.

The troubling part was, one was identical to the procedure that had been performed on Kristen Starr several months back, or at least so it seemed. And that had resulted in what she'd just overheard Debra call ”the Syndrome.” By whatever name, it had produced some horrible side effects. Why on earth were they now repeating that with this new patient? Hadn't they learned anything?

Karl Van de Vliet--or whoever ordered this idiotic travesty--was about to put the job of every person at the Dorian Inst.i.tute at risk. If whatever happened to Kristen was replicated and the word got out, it was going to be the end for everyone who worked here.

Most troubling of all, what about Ms. Hampton, who seemed like such a nice person? Did she agree to that experimental procedure? If she knew what had happened to Kristen Starr, surely she wouldn't have.

Ellen O'Hara didn't know how she could stop Dr. Vee from doing what he appeared to be planning to do. The procedure was going to be performed in the laboratory.

The only way she could think of to stop it was to try to warn Ms.

Hampton that what they were about to do was extremely dangerous. But how? Her chart in the database said they were going to keep her quarantined down in the sub- bas.e.m.e.nt. That was specified.

On top of all this, Kenji Noda had brought in some unidentified patient this afternoon, wheeled in while strapped to a gurney, and they had taken that patient to the subbas.e.m.e.nt. Noda was still down there, and Winston Bartlett had come in and gone down also. The unholy pair. And now they'd be holding Alexa Hampton down there too.

Was it possible to get past them and warn her?