Chapter 1: The Stranger in Black
The electronic chime of the elevator cut through the sterile silence of the ICU hallway like a gunshot.
Mark froze, his hand trembling inches away from the blue nebulizer mask Claire was thrusting into his chest. His chest heaved, his dead phone heavy and useless in his pocket. “No, that can't be true,” he whispered, but the cold weight of Claire’s tear-filled gaze told him everything. Their six-year-old son, Leo, was gone.
Behind them, the silver elevator doors slid open with a metallic hiss.
Out stepped a man who didn't belong in a hospital. He wore a sharp, tailored black overcoat, a charcoal suit, and a silver tie bar that caught the harsh fluorescent lighting. His hair was stark white, neatly combed, and his eyes carried the terrifying calm of a storm at sea. He didn’t look at the grieving mother, nor did he look toward the room where Leo lay still beneath a green plush dinosaur.
His eyes locked entirely on Mark.
"Mark Avery," the stranger said, his voice a low, resonant baritone that seemed to vibrate through the linoleum floor. "You are exactly four minutes and twelve seconds too late."
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Claire gasped, stepping back, her hand instantly going to her mouth. "Who... who are you? Security!" she tried to call out, but her voice died in her throat as she realized the nurses' station at the end of the hall was completely empty. The usual hum of cardiac monitors had faded into an eerie, absolute silence.
"I am the man who manages lost time," the stranger said, taking a slow step forward. "And your husband has just wasted his most valuable currency."
