Nathalie Quinlan was not interested in listening to their conversation, so after returning the computer, she looked up and said, "I'm going to take a look inside."
With the chip matter resolved, everyone felt a sense of relief.
When she said she was going into the patient's room, no one stopped her.
Everyone was busy cleaning up the aftermath of the battlefield and reinforcing the system vulnerabilities that needed reinforcing.
*
The hospital room was empty except for the beeping of machines beside the bed.
Nathalie walked over and looked at the man lying on the bed with his eyes tightly closed, his pale lips lightly pressed together, devoid of color.
It felt like an invisible giant hand was pulling at her heart, extremely uncomfortable.
She pulled a chair over to the bedside, sat down, pursed her lips, and drew the man's wrist from the bedding, laying her slender fingers on his pulse.