The hospital room felt too small to breathe in. Rosa paced the floor shakily, clutching Evan tightly against her chest as the daylight dimmed outside.
Every sound from the hallway made her jump. Every footstep made her spin toward the door with wide, haunted eyes. Evan watched everything with unsettling clarity.
The tremble in her hands. The panic in her eyes. The way she kept glancing at the window as though measuring whether she could break it if she had to.
He didn't know her past. He didn't know the man from earlier. He didn't know who those suited men were. But he knew one thing with certainty: She was running from something very real
And now he was part of it. Again. A soft knock broke the silence. "Ms. Reyes? It's Leah."
Rosa rushed to the door, unlocking it quickly and pulling the nurse inside. Rosa whispered urgently, "Did they catch them?"
"Security chased them off the property," Leah answered. "But they didn't get them. They vanished before the police arrived."
Rosa closed her eyes in despair. "Then they'll be back."
Leah hesitated. "Why would they want you? What's going on, Rosa?"
Rosa swallowed. Hard. "Please," she whispered, "don't ask questions. If you know too much, it'll put you in danger too."
Leah glanced down at Evan. Her voice softened. "You just had a baby, Rosa. You can barely stand. Where will you go?"
"Anywhere," Rosa said. "As long as it's far."
Leah exhaled, torn between fear and compassion. "You can't run on foot. You're still healing."
"I don't have a choice."
"You do." Leah placed a hand on her shoulder. "Let me help."
A tear rolled down Rosa's cheek. "Why? Why are you helping me?"
Leah smiled faintly. "Because I've seen mothers run before. It usually means they're running from something terrible."
Rosa looked away. Silence answered the question. Leah checked the hallway. "We need supplies. Clothes. Formula. Diapers. And you'll need transportation."
"I don't have a car," Rosa whispered.
Leah bit her lip. "My shift ends in an hour. I can drive you somewhere."
Rosa's eyes widened. "You'd do that?"
"I would."
Evan watched Rosa cling to that single thread of hope like it was life itself. But hope was fragile. And fragile things broke easily.
The hospital corridors were quieter, shift change. Leah returned with a bag full of supplies and gently handed Rosa a pair of clean clothes. "You'll need these."
Rosa nodded gratefully. "Thank you… thank you so much."
Evan sensed Rosa's muscles strain as she put him in a soft wrap against her chest, positioning him securely. The world tilted slightly as she stood.
Her legs shook. Her stitches pulled. She winced in silent agony. But she didn't stop. Not once. The instinct of a mother, or perhaps a woman desperate to survive, pushed her forward.
Leah peeked out into the hallway. "All clear. Let's go."
They moved quickly. Avoiding elevators. Avoiding crowded corridors. Every shadow felt dangerous. Every passing nurse felt like a threat.
Evan watched everything from the small, warm space against Rosa's chest, he watched the way her eyes scanned relentlessly, how her grip tightened each time someone looked their way, how her breath hitched whenever she heard heavy footsteps.
Trauma had fingerprints. He recognized it instantly. They passed the waiting room, nearly empty. They slipped through the back entrance near the loading dock, quiet, dimly lit.
A single security guard nodded at them lazily, unaware of the stakes Leah unlocked her old blue sedan. "Get in," she whispered. "Quickly."
Rosa climbed in, breathing heavily, holding Evan as though he were the only thing tethering her to the earth. Leah slid behind the wheel. "Where are we going?" she asked.
Rosa hesitated. She stared out the window, eyes distant. "Far," she whispered. "Just far.
Evan sensed something shift in her, something like grief mixed with determination. The engine hummed to life. They pulled out of the hospital. The night outside was calm, deceptively calm.
Streetlights flickered. Shadows moved in unnatural ways. Rosa's eyes darted at every passing car. Leah noticed. "Are you being followed?"
"I don't know," Rosa whispered. "I never know anymore."
Leah's grip tightened on the steering wheel. "Rosa… whoever those men are, they're not just random criminals."
"No," Rosa said quietly. "They're worse."
"Who are they?"
Rosa went silent. Then finally, after what felt like an eternity, she answered: "They're part of a group."
"A group?"
"An organization," Rosa whispered. "One that I tried to escape."
Leah held her breath. "What kind of organization?"
Rosa let out a shuddering sigh. "The kind that doesn't let women leave."
Evan's tiny heart pounded. Maria, Tom, and the seven friends had killed him out of greed. But Rosa… Her danger was different. Older. Deeper. Darker. The car turned onto a quieter road.
A traffic light glowed red ahead. Leah slowed the car and stopped. Rosa's eyes flicked to the rearview mirror. Her entire body stiffened. "Leah…"
"What?"
"There's a black SUV behind us."
Leah checked the mirror.
Her face paled. "Is that ?"
"Yes." Rosa hugged Evan tighter. "They found us."
The SUV's engine rumbled like a predator clearing its throat. Leah panicked. "What do I do?!"
Rosa breathed sharply. "Drive. When the light turns green… drive."
"But "
"Just drive!"
The light flicked green. Leah slammed her foot on the gas. The car lurched forward. The SUV followed. Evan felt Rosa's heart hammering violently against his tiny body.
Leah turned sharply onto a side street. The SUV followed. She turned again, faster this time. The SUV didn't hesitate. "They're gaining on us!" Leah cried.
Rosa's voice trembled. "Turn left, left!"
Leah swerved hard. The SUV sped up. Rosa's breathing broke. "No—no—he'll catch us"
"Who?!" Leah cried.
Rosa whispered one name: "Castillo."
Evan committed the name to memory. Castillo. Her past was unraveling. And it was terrifying. The SUV suddenly roared closer.
Headlights glared through the back window. Leah gasped. "They're going to hit us!"
Evan sensed everything, the speed, the danger, the violent momentum. The SUV accelerated, Rosa screamed, Leah braced, Evan's newborn body tensed, And at the last second, A truck pulled out from a side alley.
The SUV slammed on its brakes. Tires screeched. The truck blared its horn, The SUV swerved wildly, Narrowly missing both vehicles. Leah didn't waste the moment.
She slammed the gas pedal again, the little sedan launching forward. The SUV was forced to slow, stuck behind the truck. Rosa stared back in disbelief. "We… we lost them…?"
"For now," Leah whispered.
Evan felt Rosa's entire body collapse in relief, trembling violently around him. But the relief was temporary. He could feel it. In his bones. In Rosa's trembling breaths. In the lingering fear that clung to her like fog.
The SUV would be back. Castillo would be back. Danger was not gone. It had only been delayed. Twenty minutes later, Leah pulled into an abandoned rest stop off an old highway road.
Rosa's voice shook. "Why are we stopping?"
Leah turned to her with trembling hands. "Rosa… I need to know the truth."
Rosa held Evan tighter. "You need to tell me," Leah whispered. "What are you running from? Who is that man? Why do they want your baby?"
Rosa broke. Tears spilled over her cheeks. Her voice cracked painfully. "Because," she whispered, "this child… Evan… was never supposed to exist."
Evan froze. Leah gasped. "What? Rosa, what are you saying?"
Rosa closed her eyes, shaking. "Evan's father… he's one of them."
She swallowed hard. "A man feared by everyone. A man I thought I escaped."
Her grip trembled around Evan. "And if they find out Evan is alive… they will take him."
Evan's tiny heart pounded. His fate had already been tangled with death once. And now, in this new life, his very birth ignited a war.
His new mother was running. His new enemies were hunting. And he, trapped in an infant's body, could do nothing but watch the storm grow.
But he made a silent vow as Rosa held him like a lifeline: In this life, he would not die helpless. In this life, he would grow powerful. And in this life he would destroy anyone who threatened him. Or her.