Tiny lights flickered in the dark abyss that lay just beyond the tempered window above Jax’s bed. His grey and blue eyes sparkled in an ephemeral calm as he lay in uninterrupted silence. He had woken up not long ago and his body was still feeling the heaviness of the day's tests. His body wasn’t in pain, but he felt as though all of his energy had been used to heal. He rubbed his hand over his bare chest and felt a small adhesive bandage. There was a slight discomfort as he pressed the area and he began to panic as he realized the location. He carefully sat up and eased himself off the bed, trying not to make any noise. The lab was dimmed except for the light that illuminated Dr. Nemeroff’s desk.

The doctor was furiously typing on his computer and unaware of Jax as he approached. Jax stood right behind the doctor and began reading what he was typing. Most of it was scientific data, measurements and terminology which he didn’t understand. Light ricocheted off of a small test tube that lay beside the keyboard. Although he had only seen it once he recognized the object. The tracker implant lay loosely inside the tube and the thought of what that meant terrified him. Fuchsia had implanted the subdermal implant as a last minute safety measure so they could locate him. The small device now exposed to the world meant that if his friends tried to rescue him they would be in danger. He reached without thinking for the test tube and startled Dr. Nemeroff. Dr. Nemeroff grabbed the test tube and spun his chair around looking rather pale and tired. The Doctor let out a sigh of relief as he realized it had only been Jax behind him. 

Jax looked down at the test tube that the doctor was still clutching protectively in his hand. “Have you told Creso about the tracker?”, he nervously asked.

The doctor shook his head no, and then said, “I had to remove it! When I was checking the progression of your wounds healing, I noticed swelling and discoloration. After further examination I discovered the implant. The device was encased in a silicate glass capsule and it shattered from the electrical burst administered to your chest. I had to remove the glass pieces and the damaged tracker from your pectoralis major. Fuchsia embedded that device deep in your muscle and it was difficult to get the pieces out by myself.”

Jax flinched when he heard Fuchsia's name. His words were just a whisper when he asked, “how did you know Fuchsia did it?” 

Dr. Nemeroff flashed a grin at Jax and said, “it wasn’t only the tracker implant. I also recognized her work as soon as I discovered the external data port. She and your father had been working on the implant in secrecy for over a year before his death.”

Jax clenched his fist tightly as he asked, “if it was a secret how did you know about it?”

Dr. Nemeroff stood up and tucked the glass tube into his shirt pocket underneath his lab coat. “Your father and I worked together often on projects, but after Fuchsia became a part of our team we began to work together less and less. I will admit I was jealous of Fuchsia, she was brilliant and had her whole life ahead of her. She had found her way under your father’s wing and with his guidance she was going to go far in her field. I found out about their research surrounding neural implants and tech by accident. I couldn’t believe how far they had come with their research and development. I tried to talk your father into looking for some investors to help further their research and mine. I knew that there would be many investors who would gladly fund our research simply knowing about your father’s and Fuchsia’s research.”

The doctor stopped talking long enough to create a bit of distance between him and Jax. He didn’t want to get punched again when the young man got emotional.

“I had already told you we had a huge disagreement and he wouldn’t listen to me. I decided to approach the investors on his behalf and was sure that when the investors personally contacted him he would agree. Your father was furious that I had leaked information about him and Fuchsia’s research. He told me to leave immediately. So I did. I left and went to work for Creso. I tried several times after leaving to talk your father into accepting funding from Creso and he continued to say no. In the end Creso was more interested in what your father and Fuchsia had to offer than my research.” 

Jax sat down in a nearby chair and leaned forward to hold his head. He felt sick again after hearing more about how Dr. Nemeroff had betrayed his father.

Dr. Nemeroff walked closer to Jax. He looked down at the young man and said, “I am not asking for you to forgive me. I know what I did was wrong and I feel responsible for your father’s death and your injuries. I will not tell Creso about the tracker and I am limiting the amount of information I give him about your implant and source of your regenerative abilities. I am going to do everything I can do to get you out of here. So please trust me!”

Jax looked up, a blank stare present on his tired face and he said, “what other option do I have than to trust you?”

Dr. Nemeroff sat back down in his chair and said, “from what I heard, the people who were with you at the time of the trade were armed. Was Fuchsia with you then?” 

Jax nodded, gritted his teeth and said, “ yes she was with me, because Keri is her mother. The others are my friends too. I am afraid they were injured. There was a lot of gunfire and I don’t know what happened to them.”

Dr. Nemeroff looked confused and said, “I didn’t know the woman they had was Fuchsia’s mother! I was told she was a nurse who you were close to at the hospital. Is that true?”

Jax nodded his head and said, “she was the only person who acted like they cared about me in that hospital. I tried to keep contact with her after I was released but something happened and we had to stop communicating. I found out later that Keri was Fuchsia’s mother.” 

“What is Creso up to? He must have known about Fuchsia and her connection with your father. Why did he not tell me? Unless…,” the doctor stopped talking and wiped the beads of sweat that were forming above his brow.  

“Do you have a way I can contact Fuchsia?” he asked. 

Jax chewed nervously on his bottom lip as he debated giving Dr. Nemeroff Fuchsia's cell phone number. He pushed his hair out of his face and said, “can you be sure that Creso won’t find out?” 

The doctor leaned back in his seat and said, “if he was aware of what I was doing at this point I would already be dead. I will make sure I contact her away from here.”

Jax nervously tapped on the edge of the chair. The doctor placed a notepad in front of him and a pen. Jax took the pad and the pen and scribbled Fuchsia’s number out as quickly as he could and handed it back to the doctor. 

The doctor tore the paper off the pad and folded it and placed it in his shirt pocket with the glass tube. Jax had slouched over again and placed his head back in his hands. Dr. Nemeroff reached out and touched Jax's head and said, “get some sleep. I am going to go out for a bit.”

Jax picked his head up quickly and asked, “are you going to contact her tonight?”

“Yes, I am sure that Fuchsia has already realized the tracker has stopped working. Your friends probably fear the worst, so I need to let them know the situation before they do anything rash.  Get some rest and I will let you know if I talk to her when I get back.” The doctor turned away from Jax and started to walk off. 

Jax reached up and grabbed the edge of Dr. Nemeroff’s lab coat. The doctor turned back to look at Jax. Jax looked down at the floor, not wanting to make eye contact as he said, ”please be careful!” 

The doctor carefully placed his other hand over Jax’s hand and squeezed lightly. Jax dropped his arm back to his side and the doctor walked away leaving Jax in the cold silent room with only his thoughts.

***

Dr. Nemeroff glanced at the guard at the door and said, “I am going out to get some food and a coffee. The test subject is sleeping and I should be back before he wakes up. Please call me if anything happens while I am gone.” 

The doctor exited the building and looked up towards the night sky. His warm breath created a fog against the cold air. He dug in his pants pockets searching for his keys before he headed away from the building. If anything, working for Creso had made him jumpy as hell. Every noise made him think that Creso’s men were following him. He tried his best to look calm as he walked to his car, just in case Creso’s men were watching. He needed to find a safe place that he could call Fuchsia. He knew he was running out of time. After talking to Jax he could only think of one answer as to why Creso had not told him about Keri. His days were numbered and he needed to act fast to get Jax away from Creso.