Mia's POV
Working in pediatrics means you're trained to expect the unexpected—but nothing in medical school prepared me for the boy with silver eyes.
It was a quiet Tuesday morning at Saint Haven Medical Center, one of the most prestigious hospitals in New York City. I was reviewing charts, sipping lukewarm coffee, and bracing for the usual cases of strep throat and seasonal flu when a nurse rushed into my office.
"There's a patient in Exam Room 4—six years old," she said. "Unusual vitals. And his mother says it's… urgent."
I nodded and made my way down the hall, clipboard in hand.
When I opened the door, I found a young boy sitting calmly on the exam table. His skin was pale, but not sickly. His posture—straight-backed, hands folded neatly in his lap—was unsettlingly mature for his age. And his eyes…
Silver.
Not gray. Silver.
Beside him stood a tall, elegant woman with rich auburn hair and a guarded expression. She was beautiful, yes—but there was a sharpness to her, like she could gut a man with words alone.
Her voice was calm but carried a tension I recognized all too well—panic dressed in poise.
I offered her a gentle smile. "I'm Dr. Mia Walls. I'll take a good look at him."
Eric met my eyes, unusually quiet for a child his age. There was something... different about him. Not just his striking irises, but the way he carried himself. Observant. Reserved. Old for his years.
"Hi, Eric," I said softly, handing him a stuffed dinosaur from my plushie basket. "Wanna hold onto this while I check you out?"
His lips twitched into the faintest smile as he took it. My heart melted a little. The brave ones always got to me.
His vitals were slightly erratic, and his breathing was shallow but not alarming. But there was something off—something deeper than what my equipment could tell me.
"I'll need to run a few blood tests," I told his mother.
She nodded. "That's fine. Just… please, be discreet. My family doesn't trust easily."
As she spoke, her phone buzzed, and she frowned at the name on the screen. Her expression darkened.
"We've been to multiple hospitals," she added, almost as an afterthought. "But no doctor—no ordinary human doctor—has figured it out. They don't understand… what he is."
I didn't quite know what she meant, but the gravity in her tone made me nod.
Still, when she looked at me again, her expression softened. "Thank you, Dr. Walls. Most doctors would've called for backup the moment they saw Eric's eyes."
I blinked. "I don't scare easy."
She gave me a look that almost seemed impressed. "Good. You'll need that courage. Especially when my brother arrives."
I didn't ask who her brother was.
I should have.
Turning back to Eric, I knelt beside him and held out another plushie—this one a fuzzy blue dragon with sparkly wings. "You were really brave today," I said gently. "This one's just for you. He's good at keeping secrets."
Eric's silver eyes lit up just a little as he hugged the dragon tight.
I smiled to myself.
I had no idea the storm I was about to walk into.