Chapter 4 - The Hospital That Buried The Truth.
Chapter 4 - The Hospital That Buried The Truth.
Nora spent the entire night sitting on the floor of her apartment.
The rabbit was still in her hands.
The note was still beside her.
“Stop searching for her.”
Four words.
But they carried more fear than any threat she had ever received.
Because whoever left it knew exactly what she was searching for.
They knew about Emma.
They knew about the necklace.
They knew about St. Catherine’s Hospital.
And they knew Nora had finally started asking questions.
For six years, Nora had believed she was fighting grief.
Now she realized she might have been fighting a lie.
When morning arrived, Nora did not go to work.
She drove straight to St. Catherine’s Hospital.
The building looked exactly the same.
The same gray walls.
The same entrance doors.
The same place where her life had broken apart.
Six years earlier, she had walked through those doors as an excited mother.
She left as someone who had lost everything.
Now she returned carrying a possibility she was afraid to believe.
Her daughter might have been alive.
Nora entered the hospital records department.
A woman behind the desk looked up.
“Can I help you?”
Nora placed an old document on the counter.
“My daughter was born here six years ago.”
The woman typed into the computer.
“What is the name?”
“Nora Bennett.”
The woman searched.
Her expression changed.
“What?” Nora asked.
The woman hesitated.
“I’m sorry.”
“What?”
“There is no record matching this information.”
Nora felt the air disappear from the room.
“That’s impossible.”
“I gave birth here.”
The employee searched again.
Nothing.
“There should be a record.”
“There should be everything.”
Nora’s voice became unsteady.
“Someone erased it.”
The woman looked uncomfortable.
“I can’t help you without a file number.”
Nora stepped back.
A hospital that once told her they lost her baby now claimed her baby never existed.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
As Nora turned away, an older nurse passing by suddenly stopped.
She looked at Nora.
Then at the necklace around her neck.
Her face changed.
Just like the woman at the supermarket.
Fear.
The nurse quickly looked away.
Nora noticed.
She followed her.
“Excuse me.”
The nurse continued walking.
“Nurse.”
The woman finally stopped.
“What do you want?”
Nora stepped closer.
“You know me.”
“No.”
“Yes, you do.”
The nurse looked at the necklace again.
“You should leave.”
Nora’s heartbeat increased.
“Why?”
The nurse lowered her voice.
“Because some people are very good at making problems disappear.”
Nora stared at her.
“Did my daughter die here?”
The nurse looked away.
The silence was enough.
Nora’s voice shook.
“Did she?”
The nurse whispered:
“I was told to change the record.”
Nora froze.
“What record?”
The nurse looked terrified.
“The birth record.”
The hallway suddenly felt colder.
“Why?”
The nurse swallowed.
“Because your baby was not supposed to exist.”
Nora stepped back.
“What does that mean?”
Before the nurse could answer, another voice interrupted.
“Nurse Carter.”
Both women turned.
A hospital administrator stood at the end of the hallway.
A man in a dark suit.
His expression was calm.
Too calm.
“Everything okay here?”
The nurse immediately became silent.
Nora looked between them.
She understood.
People were still protecting the secret.
The administrator smiled politely.
“Mrs. Bennett, perhaps you should go home.”
Nora looked directly at him.
“No.”
She held the rabbit tighter.
“I spent six years believing my daughter was dead.”
Her voice became stronger.
“I’m done going home.”
The man’s smile disappeared.
And for the first time...
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Nora saw something behind his confidence.
Fear.
