CHAPTER 2: THE MEDICAL REPORT
Claire was taken directly to the maternity unit at St. Vincent Medical Center.
Her blood pressure was dangerously high. The baby’s heartbeat kept dropping, then recovering, then dropping again.
I stood beside the hospital bed while two nurses moved around us.
Claire looked impossibly small beneath the white sheets.
A doctor named Rebecca Patel entered carrying a tablet.
“Mr. Walker, I need to speak with your wife privately.”
I nodded and stepped into the hallway.
A detective was waiting outside.
Detective Lena Ortiz was in her early forties, with calm eyes and a voice that made it difficult to hide behind excuses.
“Your mother has been detained,” she said. “She denies everything.”
“I found pills.”
“They’re being tested.”
“She mentioned my sister.”
Ortiz studied me.
“What did she say?”
“That if the police investigated, they would find out what happened to Rachel.”
“Who is Rachel?”
“My younger sister. She died when she was eleven.”
“How?”
I repeated the story I had heard my entire life.
Rachel had fallen down the basement stairs during a storm. My father, Thomas, had been home. My mother claimed he had been drinking and failed to watch her.
After the funeral, my father disappeared.
Diane said the guilt had consumed him.
I had hated him ever since.
Ortiz wrote something in her notebook.
“Was there an investigation?”
“I was thirteen. I don’t remember much.”
“Do you know where your father is now?”
“No.”
The hospital door opened.
Dr. Patel stepped into the hallway.
“The baby is stable for now,” she said. “But your wife has injuries in different stages of healing. Some appear to be several weeks old.”
My throat tightened.
“Will she be okay?”
“She also tested positive for a prescription sedative that should not be taken during pregnancy unless closely supervised.”
I handed her the bottle from the apartment, now sealed in a police evidence bag.
“Could those be the pills?”
“We’ll know after testing.”
Dr. Patel lowered her voice.
“Your wife says she was prevented from attending her last two prenatal appointments.”
I stared through the narrow window in the door.
“She told me the appointments had been rescheduled.”
“She says your mother canceled them.”
Every piece of my life was rearranging itself into something unbearable.
Diane had called me every night.
She had warned me that Claire was lying.
She had planted suspicion while isolating the person who needed me most.
Ortiz touched my shoulder.
“Your wife is ready to speak with you.”
Claire was sitting upright when I returned.
Her eyes were swollen, but her voice was clearer.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“No.”
I pulled a chair beside her.
“Never apologize to me for this.”
“I should have told you.”
“I should have seen it.”
“She made sure you didn’t.”
Claire explained that Diane had first offered to help while I was working. She cooked meals, cleaned the apartment and accompanied Claire to appointments.
Then she began making comments.
The baby was too small.
Claire was lazy.
I would eventually leave her.
One afternoon, Diane brought tea. Claire became weak after drinking it.
That was the first time Diane hurt her.
“Why?” I asked.
Claire looked toward the closed door.
“Because I found something.”
“What?”
“A box in your mother’s attic.”
Inside were old photographs, newspaper clippings and a child’s red bracelet.
Rachel’s bracelet.
There was also a letter written by my father.
Claire had taken a picture of it before Diane caught her.
“Do you still have the picture?”
“My phone.”
I found it inside her purse.
The image was blurry, but the handwriting was readable.
Ethan, if you ever find this, please understand that I did not abandon you. Your mother made sure I had no choice.
Below that sentence was another.
Rachel did not fall.
Before I could read the rest, Detective Ortiz opened the door.
“Mr. Walker, we have a problem.”
“What happened?”
“Your mother has been released pending further investigation.”
I stood so quickly that the chair struck the wall.
“How?”
“She has an attorney. The injuries are serious, but we need stronger evidence connecting her to them.”
Ortiz held up her phone.
“Your mother left the station ten minutes ago.”
A nurse hurried into the room.
“Where is Mrs. Walker’s medical bag?”
Claire looked confused.
“What medical bag?”
“The woman claiming to be her mother-in-law just called the front desk. She said she was coming upstairs to collect it.”
Diane wasn’t going home.
May you like
She was coming to the hospital.
And she knew exactly which room Claire was in.
