Months passed. The pregnancies reached their terms. The babies were born healthy, each one with eyes the color of storm clouds just before rain. None of the mothers experienced medical complications. Each child seemed strangely calm, drawn to quiet places. Nurses joked that the nursery felt like a monastery.
Logan remained in his coma. His vital signs never shifted. The camera in his new room showed no further anomalies. The phenomenon ended without explanation.
Conrad eventually left Crescent Hills Medical Center. He did not resign in disgrace. He simply stepped away, seeking something that science could not yet define. He traveled to conferences and spoke to researchers about the importance of humility. He told them to consider the possibility that human understanding was not the ceiling of reality.
Room 614 was never reopened. The door remained locked. The fluorescent light above it glowed at odd times. Staff avoided the hallways around it during late shifts. Some swore they heard footsteps inside, slow and uncertain, like someone remembering how to walk.