Prologue: Too late

This chapter contains scenes depicting death and emotional stress. Reader discretion is advised.

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Louise's P.O.V

I stared down at her, my heart pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of my chest. She wasn't moving.

"Catherine?" I whispered, my voice trembling with fear.

 I waited—prayed—for some sign, anything, that she was still with me. But there was nothing.

The steady beeping of the heart monitor beside her suddenly flatlined, cutting through the air like a knife. I froze. That sound… It couldn't be real.

The nurses moved quickly, voices rising, but their words barely registered in my mind. 

Alice rushed to Catherine's side, her hands moving with the precision of a doctor in crisis, but her eyes were wide with panic.

"She's in cardiac arrest!" Alice's voice sliced through the fog in my head. I watched, numb, as she began CPR, pressing down on Catherine's chest in desperate, rhythmic movements.

I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think.

The baby—Sky—was gently lifted from Catherine's arms by one of the nurses. I watched them take him away, but I couldn't move. My legs felt like they were rooted to the floor. My eyes stayed fixed on Catherine.

I was losing her.

I collapsed to my knees beside her cot, my hands trembling as I reached for her. "Please, Catherine, hold on..." My voice cracked, barely above a whisper. "Don't go. Please..."

I gripped her hand, waiting for her to squeeze it back, waiting for her chest to rise, for her to take one more breath. But there was nothing. 

No response.

Her body stayed still.

The room felt like it was collapsing around me. All I could hear was the sound of my heart breaking.

"Catherine?" My voice trembled as I gently shook her, but the cold, suffocating truth began to sink in.

"No..." The word slipped from my lips, weak, broken. I shook her again, harder this time. "No, no, no!" My voice grew louder, more desperate, as if I could force her back.

"Catherine, please!" I screamed.

The raw anguish tearing from my throat. "Wake up! Please... don't leave me!" 

My hands gripped her shoulders, shaking her, pleading with her. My entire world was crumbling, and I was powerless to stop it.

Alice's hands fell still beside me. She was crying now, her body slumped with defeat.

"Louise..." Her voice was soft, filled with pain, but I didn't want to hear it.

I collapsed against Catherine, burying my face in her chest, my sobs shaking my entire body. She was gone. The woman I loved, the mother of my child, was gone.

"Catherine, please..." I whispered, my words barely audible. "Don't leave me..."

I held on to her, clinging to the hope that maybe—just maybe—she would open her eyes. That this wasn't real. But it was. And I felt my heart breaking all over again.

Suddenly, I felt hands on my shoulders, pulling me back. Devien was there, his voice gentle but firm. "Louise, you have to let her go." His words hit me like a punch in the chest.

"She's gone," he said, his voice thick with grief. "You have to be strong now—for your son."

I shook my head violently, tears streaming down my face. "No... no, I can't..." My voice trembled, my entire body wracked with tears, "I can't do this without her."

Alice knelt beside me, her hand on my shoulder, her face tear-streaked and pale. 

"I know it's hard," she whispered, her voice breaking. "But you have to stay strong. Catherine wanted you to protect Sky. She gave everything for him."

The words cut through me, slicing deep into my soul. Catherine was gone, but Sky... Sky was still here. The last piece of her.

I collapsed into Devien's arms, my body shaking uncontrollably. Through my tears, I looked down at the fragile baby, the only thing I had left of Catherine. My heart broke all over again as I stared at Sky, so small, so helpless.

I took a shaky breath and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. "I'll protect you," I whispered, my voice barely a breath. "I swear to you, Sky... I'll keep you safe. For her."

The room fell silent again, save for the soft hum of the machines. My world felt shattered, but I had to keep going.

Suddenly, a loud beep pierced the quiet. The computer near the far wall flickered to life, its screen flashing with new data.

Devien was the first to react, rushing over to check the monitor. 

His eyes widened as he stared at the screen, his expression one of disbelief. "Alice... Louise!" 

His voice was filled with shock and urgency.

Alice quickly stood, wiping her tears as she hurried over to Devien's side. I stayed where I was, holding Sky, numb to everything around me.

"What is it?" Alice asked, her voice shaky as she looked at the data.

Devien's hands shook as he pointed to the screen. 

"We did it," he said, his voice barely holding back the flood of emotion. 

"The cure... we found it. We made the cure!"

I stared at them from across the room, my mind barely able to process the words. The cure. We had been chasing it for so long, and now, after everything, we had it.

But Catherine... Catherine was gone.

"At what cost?" Alice whispered, her voice filled with grief as she glanced toward Catherine's lifeless body on the cot. "We found the cure, but we lost her."

I stood slowly, Sky cradled against my chest. My legs felt weak, and my heart was heavy. I walked toward them, my voice hollow.

"We're too late," I whispered, my words barely audible.

The lab fell into a suffocating silence once more, the only sounds the soft hum of the machines and the quiet, rhythmic breaths of the last... 

Omega.

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