"I want to see the clinic first," Areana said. "See where he'll be kept."
Kian studied her for a moment, then nodded. "We've installed a new security system, which is why I wanted to meet you here and show you how it works."
He looked up at a camera that was mounted on top of the door and lifted his hand. The door opened automatically, or someone had opened it remotely, and it swung out, revealing a chamberbarely large enough to house the gurney and two people standing next to it. Another door waited on the opposite wall.
"Both doors cannot be opened simultaneously," Kian said. "They're operated remotely by guards monitoring the security cameras. Even if someone manages to sneak past one door by following someone who's entering or exiting, they'll only be trapped in the chamber. The guards won't open the second door."
"And if they take whoever is with them in the chamber hostage?" Areana asked.
"The chamber will be flooded with gas that will knock out whoever is inside."
"The clinic was small to start with," Julian muttered under his breath. "Now it's even smaller."
"It couldn't be helped," Kian said, though his tone suggested he agreed with Julian's complaint.
Areana glanced at Navuh's unconscious form again, at the breathing tube and the IV lines and the monitors tracking his vital signs. If he woke up right now, she doubted he could lift his arm, let alone try to escape.
The elaborate security felt like overkill for a male who couldn't breathe on his own.
"We'll only keep him sedated as long as it's medically necessary," Kian continued. "When it's safe to revive him, we'll fit him with special ankle and wrist cuffs that will prevent him from trying anything."
"How?" Areana asked, though she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
"I'll explain later. Right now, we need to get him inside." Kian motioned for Julian and the nurse to go ahead.
Julian positioned himself at the head of the gurney while Bridget and Hildegard flanked it, and together they maneuvered Navuh and all his attached equipment through the doorway.
It was a tight fit, but the chamber was designed to accommodate a gurney loaded with medical equipment and the personnel wheeling it.
"We'll wait here until they're through," Kian said as the inner door closed, sealing the medical staff and Navuh inside the chamber.
Areana stood beside her nephew, staring at that closed door, and an awkward silence stretched between them.
"You remind me of Khiann," she said, needing to break the oppressive quiet. "You have his coloring and his bearing. Well, his hair was a little darker, but it was just as wavy."
Kian nodded. "So I've been told."
"You must be a great consolation to your mother. Having you must have helped ease the pain of losing Khiann."
Kian nodded but said nothing, his gaze fixed on the chamber door. Once again, the silence stretched between them, heavy and awkward, and Areana wished she hadn't said anything.
She might have said the wrong thing. Or the right thing at the wrong time. She couldn't tell anymore. Everything in this new world felt like walking through a minefield.
The outer door finally hissed open again, revealing the empty chamber. The medical staff had successfully moved Navuh to the other side.
"After you," Kian said, gesturing for her to enter.
Areana stepped into the small space, and Kian followed. The door sealed behind them with a hiss and a click, and for a moment, they were trapped there together.
Aunt and nephew who had just met and were still learning how to behave around each other.
Then the inner door opened, and they stepped into the clinic proper.
Julian hadn't exaggerated when he'd said it was small, but it looked clean and modern, with state-of-the-art equipment visible in the two patient rooms branching off the main area.
Navuh had been wheeled into one of them, and the mother and son doctor team was working on his intake.
"We'll take good care of him," Bridget said. "You can leave, knowing that he's in capable hands."
