Chris's house was silent as Claire made her way down the stairs. Silence in Chris's house was always a strange occurrence that Claire always found more creepy than relaxing. She suddenly remembered why it was so silent as she made her way towards the kitchen, her body craving her daily dose of caffeine. Jill was gone. So was Leon, thought not in the same sense. And Chris had never been more silent. Nor had his house.

Claire poured herself a hot cup of coffee in her favorite mug and walked over to the back door. She gazed out the clear glass, her eyes entranced on the picnic bench at the other end of the yard. She took a sip of her black coffee and listened to a bird singing beautifully on the other side as she remembered their last night altogether. She had no idea that that would be one of the last times she would ever see Jill again. There was so much more Claire had wanted to tell her. From the moment Jill and Chris had began working together in S.T.A.R.S., Claire could see how smitten her big brother was. She wanted to make sure Jill understood that there was no one better for her big brother than she was. But she already knew that, how could she not, Claire asked herself.

With one last glance, Claire turned away from the backyard and made her way up the stairs. As she approached her bedroom, she could hear her phone ringing. By the personal ring tones that she always had so much fun setting, she knew before looking at her phone that someone from the hospital was calling her.

Great, there goes my day off.

"Hello?" Claire said into the phone. She took a seat on the side of her bed and put her coffee down on the nightstand as she listened to the voice on the other end. "Of course I can. I'm at my brother's house a few hours away, but I'll get there as soon as I can." She hung up the moment the conversation was over and made her way to the dresser. She quickly threw off her shorts and t-shirt and slipped into her uniform. Thank God she thought ahead and always left a spare uniform at Chris's.

She grabbed her purse and headed towards Chris's closed bedroom door. She knocked on it and was greeted by silence. She knocked again and waited for a moment.

"Chris?" She glanced down at her watched and suddenly felt stupid for even assuming he would be awake. It wasn't even seven o'clock yet. If Chris was awake now, something was wrong. He never was a morning person, Claire smiled to herself.

Making her way to the kitchen once again, Claire picked up a marker and began to write on the white board that was stuck on the fridge. 'Emergency at work. Be back when I can. Have cell on me.' With that, Claire made a dash for the front door. She had no idea that Chris wouldn't get her message. He wasn't even at home. Instead, he was already at work.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh Claire, thank God you're here."

Claire watched a woman run towards her the moment she stepped through the automatic doors. The woman's name was Daniela and was Claire's closest friend and co-worker at the hospital. Her beautiful long raven black hair was always tied up in a loose ponytail or bun that sat on the back of her head. Her pale skin was a perfect contrast to her drastically dark hair and made her sapphire blue eyes pop. Daniela was the type of person who always had a smile spread wide across her face. But today, the effortless and comforting smile wasn't on her face. Instead, it was replaced panic.

"What's going on?" Claire asked as she walked side by side with the woman.

"We're completely understaffed. I know you wanted to be around more, you know, have more hours, so I immediately thought of you." Daniela paused for a moment before she finished speaking. "We have a problem on the 6th floor."

"What's on the 6th floor? The mental health ward?"

"A woman came in absolutely hysterical. Something about experiments. I didn't know who else to call, I know you have some experience in that department. Claire, find out what's going on. Help her."

Since Claire had begun working at the hospital and had befriended Daniela, she found herself opening up. For the first time in years, Claire felt comfortable talking about her past and everything she had been through. She had spoke briefly about her encounters with the undead, through she refrained from going too much into detail. No one needed the image of a nurse mowing down the undead with a shotgun.

Please don't be what I think it is…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Stop! Why won't you believe me? Why am I here? I'm not crazy! Get away from me!" The moment Claire stepped out of the elevator; she could hear the woman's frantic screams.

Following the cries for help, Claire found a woman lying on a bed, her body jerking viciously as she tried to free herself from the thick restraints that held her down. Claire came in the room as a nurse was preparing to inject the woman with a sedative.

"What's going on here?" Claire asked as she came up behind the nurse. The other woman turned around and eyed her carefully, her eyes searching for Claire's ID.

She pulled the card out of her pocket and flashed it to the other nurse as she walked towards the patient. She looked into her eyes and saw fear and desperation as her chest heaved.

"She's been screaming since she came in. I was just about to sedate her."

"Hun, what's going on?" Claire gently moved hair away from the woman's face, ignoring the flinch she received in response.

"You have to help me. I don't want to be like them, I've seen what they become!"

"Calm down. Take a deep breath and tell me everything." Claire said, her voice low and calm as she smiled.

"This is ridiculous. Move aside, Redfield, and let me take care of my patient."

"Your patient is terrified of you. Would you mind leaving us alone for a moment? I can handle this."

"And just what give you the idea that you can handle this?"

Claire turned and shot the other nurse a sharp look. "I don't think you really want me to answer that question. But trust me, I can."

Not looking for a fight, the other woman let out a loud sigh and threw up her arms in defeat. She stormed out of the room and decided that, at least this way; she could take an extra break.

"She's crazy. She kept talking about how powerful having it was going to make her. Talking like she was God himself." Tears flowed like an endless river down the woman's warm cheeks as she spoke in quivers.

"Who? What was going to make her powerful? What happened? Please, tell me everything."

"She said her name was…" The woman took a deep breath as a shudder ran through her. "Ada."