Chapter 5

Derek spun around and pointed at me.

"You heard that? Nobody forced you. You decided to keep going on your own!"

I felt cold all over.

"I requested the entire batch be sealed and destroyed, but Alpha Alaric said the families were counting on this vaccine.

"The Medical Council was also pressuring the pediatric department to resume vaccinations."

Alaric's expression turned ugly.

"Evelyn, I didn't force you. Tight medical resources are a reality, but the final decision always rests with the attending physician."

"Then what was I supposed to do?"

I finally broke down crying.

"Stopping vaccinations wasn't an option. Destroying the vaccine wasn't an option. I told you the test results were wrong, and none of you believed me!

"You all said VRX-17 was absolutely safe. What else could I have done?"

The corridor fell briefly silent.

Caine looked at me and spoke in a low, steady voice.

"Then test it again.

"She flagged the problem before the incident, not after."

Those words gave me hope again.

I grabbed Aaron's arm.

"Yes, right now!

"Don't send the vaccine to the lab. Do it right here, in front of everyone!"

Derek sneered.

"Fine. Go ahead.

"I'd love to see what's supposedly wrong with a vaccine that just passed safety certification."

Aaron looked around the room. To calm the families, he ultimately agreed to run the tests on the spot.

"Only rapid screening can be done here. Official results still need to come from the independent laboratory under the Medical Council.

"Everyone step back. Don't disturb the samples or the scene records."

Aaron changed into protective gear and walked over to the sealed medication cart.

He first verified the cold storage temperature and system registration, then inspected the syringe packaging, seals, and batch labels.

Then he randomly selected three doses of VRX-17 from the tray and ran a viral screening.

"All negative. No contamination detected."

"That's impossible!"

I stumbled forward.

"Let me try. I'll do it myself!"

Aaron exchanged a glance with Alaric, and they ultimately allowed me to retest under camera surveillance.

Ignoring the blood on my hands, I immediately swapped out the reagents and tested the remaining syringes one by one.

One. Two. Three.

Every single result came back normal.

My entire body went rigid.

Impossible.

Those pups had clearly fallen ill within minutes of being injected. The symptoms were identical to my past life.

But now, why was every syringe coming back negative?

Behind me, angry murmurs started to build.

"The vaccine's fine, isn't it?"

"She was lying the whole time!"

"She deliberately asked for a public test. What an actress."

Derek stared at me, unblinking.

"Didn't you say the vaccine was contaminated?

"So where's the contamination?"

I looked at the test strip in my hand, my voice shaking so badly the words barely came out.

"It wasn't like this before.

"Right before the children fell ill, the nurse had just switched to a new batch of syringes.

"Something has to be wrong with that batch..."

Aaron sighed.

"Dr. Hart, when I tested the vaccine before the incident, it was normal.

"Now, after the children fell ill, the remaining doses at the scene still show none of the contamination you're describing.

"How am I supposed to believe you?"

Caine, who had just spoken in my defense, fell silent too.

He could attest that I'd called off the vaccinations early and demanded retesting, but he couldn't prove VRX-17 was contaminated.

And the on-site testing I'd insisted on had only become new evidence that I was lying.