Badass in Disguise (Shadow) novel Chapter 244

adass in Disguise

Chapter 244

Saturday morning sunlight filtered through the grimy windones of a sundown apartment building in Princeton’s poorest neighborhood. I stood behind Walter Morrison and Philip Thornton as we climbed the creaking stairs to the fifth floor. The stairwell reeked of urine and cheap disinfectant.

Walter knocked on apartment 507. No answer. He knocked again, louder this time,

“Maybe no one’s home, Philip suggested, straightening his expensive suit jacket.

I reached past them and turned the doorknob. It wasn’t locked. The door swung open, revealing Silas kneeling beside a frail woman in a narrow bed, cleaning what appeared to be vomit from her nightgown.

“I’m sorry.” Silas said without looking up, his voice flat. “I’ll be at work in twenty minutes.”

He froze when he turned and saw us standing in the doorway. His eyes widened with recognition, then narrowed with something between anger and shame.

“Sorry,” Philip said quickly. “The door v

wasn’t properly closed. We should have knocked harder.”

The apartment was a single bedroom with a tiny living room and what looked like a kitchenette and bathroom so small you’d struggle to turn around in them. The walls were painted a dingy yellow that had faded and peeled in places. The sparse furniture was clearly secondhand, but meticulously clean. Deep knife marks scarred the front door from the Inside.

Despite the poverty, someone had tried to make the place habitable. The floor was swept, the few dishes stacked neatly in a drying rack. A blanket and pillow on the living room couch suggested that’s where Silas slept, giving the bedroom to his mother.

“Dr. Morrison?” Silas’s mother asked weakly from the bed, her voice a thread of sound,

Walter

stepped forward, medical bag in hand. “Mrs. Murphy.”

Silas’s jaw tightened as he took the soiled cloth to the tiny bathroom

sional efficiency. I watched from the doorway as he examined Mrs. Murphy, his

Walter moved to the bedside, his manner shifting to professional expression growing more troubled with each passing minute.

“She worked two jobs when she was younger, Silas said from behind me, his voice low. “Factory during the day, cleaning offices at night. Her body started breaking down years ago.”

Walter nodded grimly. “And the kidney disease?”

“Two years

years ago. Medicare covers the dialysis, but…” Silas shrugged,

ed, the gesture conveying everything words couldn’t.

I studied Mrs. Murphy more carefully. Early–fifties, probably, though she looked much older. Her body had been broken by hard labor and what looked like abuse–old scars visible on her arms, a badly healed fracture in her left wrist.

“Your father?” I asked quietly.

Silas ignored that question.

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12:27 Sat, Sep 27

Chapter 244

Walter finished his examination and turned to me. “Jade, can you think of anything that might help? Something to ease her pain, perhaps extend her time?”

I glanced at Silas, then back to Walter. “Everyone out,” I said. “I need a few minutes.”

Walter nodded and ushered everyone from the bedroom.

When we were alone, I pulled my small medical kit from my bag and selected a vial containing an experimental pain management compound I’d developed. It wasn’t FDA approved, but it worked better than anything on the market.

1 gently moved the blanket aside and carefully unbuttoned part of Mrs. Murphy’s nightgown, exposing a small area of her abdomen. After cleaning the spot, I injected the compound. “This will help with the pain,” I explained. “It targets nerve receptors without suppressing respiratory function.”

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