Chapter 6 - The Woman by the Window.
Mae opened the door only far enough to see Simone’s face.
Simone stood in the service passage wearing a hospital robe beneath a long gray cardigan.
Her dark curls had been pulled into a messy knot.
For the first time since Leah met her, she looked nothing like a woman posing for photographs.
She looked scared.
“Let me in,” Simone whispered.
Mae glanced behind her.
“Did anyone see you?”
“I don’t think so.”
“That is not an answer.”
Simone gave her a look.
“I am eight months pregnant and walking through an abandoned service corridor in hospital slippers.”
She lifted one hand.
“I did my best.”
Mae let her inside.
Simone immediately locked the door again.
Then she looked at Leah.
“You look terrible.”
Leah almost laughed.
“Thank you.”
“I meant that medically.”
“That does not improve it.”
Simone’s mouth twitched.
For one second, the tension broke.
Then Simone held up her phone.
“I recorded Doreen and Dr. Rusk two nights ago.”
Leah’s expression changed.
“You wrote the note on my pillow.”
“Yes.”
“What did you hear?”
Simone looked at Mae.
“Is this room private?”
“No room in a hospital is completely private.”
“Comforting.”
“Play it quietly.”
Simone unlocked her phone.
She scrolled through a row of voice recordings.
“I was recording a message for someone when they stopped outside the room.”
Leah remembered Simone’s mysterious phone calls.
“The person who thinks you’re at a wellness retreat?”
Simone looked annoyed.
“This is not about me.”
“Right now, everything feels like it might be about me.”
Simone’s expression softened.
“Fair.”
She tapped the file.
At first there was only room noise.
A television.
Fabric moving.
Simone’s own voice beginning a message and then stopping.
Then Doreen’s voice became clear through the speaker.
“If she refuses the family authorization, we need another route.”
Leah stopped breathing.
Dr. Rusk answered.
“I can document concern.”
“That is not the same as action.”
“No.”
A pause.
Then Dr. Rusk spoke again.
“But enough documented concern can trigger an assessment.”
Doreen lowered her voice.
“And if she reacts badly?”
“That becomes part of the assessment.”
Leah looked at Mae.
Mae’s jaw tightened.
The recording continued.
Doreen said, “She will react badly if the baby is removed from the room.”
Dr. Rusk replied, “Most new mothers would.”
Doreen’s answer came after a short pause.
“Then make sure the reaction is witnessed.”
Simone stopped the recording.
The room went silent.
Leah stared at the phone.
For several seconds, she could not form a sentence.
Finally she whispered.
“They planned the nursery incident.”
Mae nodded slowly.
“That is what it sounds like.”
“They took Eli so I would demand him back.”
Simone looked sick.
“I heard them talking and thought maybe I misunderstood.”
“Why didn’t you tell me immediately?”
Simone flinched.
Leah regretted the question as soon as she asked it.
Simone looked toward the floor.
“Because I am not exactly in a position to invite attention.”
Leah studied her.
“What are you hiding?”
Simone gave a tired laugh.
“I knew we would get there eventually.”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
“Yes, I do.”
She sat carefully in the second chair.
“The man I keep talking to thinks I am in Arizona.”
Leah waited.
“He is my fiancé.”
“And he does not know you’re pregnant?”
“He knows I was pregnant.”
Leah frowned.
Simone stared at her own hands.
“I told him I lost the baby five months ago.”
Mae’s face softened.
Simone continued before either woman could respond.
“It is his baby.”
“Why tell him that?” Leah asked.
“Because his family has money.”
“So?”
“So they also have opinions about what belongs to them.”
Leah went still.
Simone looked at her.
“I found out his mother had already contacted attorneys about a custody arrangement before our child was even born.”
The irony was so sharp that Leah almost laughed again.
Instead she whispered.
“You hid here.”
“I transferred my care to another practice, used my middle name, and told him I needed time away.”
Simone shrugged without humor.
“It was supposed to be temporary while I figured out what to do.”
Mae looked concerned.
“Does the hospital know about the name issue?”
“Yes.”
“My insurance and legal information are correct.”
“I am not using a false identity.”
“Good.”
Simone gave Mae a tired look.
“I may be dramatic, Nurse Rowland.”
“I am not stupid.”
Leah looked at the phone.
“That recording could prove what they did.”
“It proves a conversation happened.”
Mae’s caution returned immediately.
“It does not prove every chart entry was false.”
“But the time stamps might.”
“Yes.”
Leah leaned back carefully.
“So we need both.”
Mae nodded.
“And we need someone with authority to preserve the chart before anyone edits it.”
Simone raised her hand slightly.
“I may have someone.”
Mae looked at her.
“Who?”
“My uncle is on the hospital compliance committee.”
Leah stared at her.
“You have been sitting by the window for six days acting like you barely know where you are, and your uncle is on the compliance committee?”
Simone lifted one shoulder.
“You never asked.”
Mae’s eyes narrowed.
“What is his name?”
“Martin Bell.”
Mae went still.
“Martin Bell is the hospital’s outside compliance counsel.”
Simone nodded.
“That too.”
Leah felt the first small spark of hope she had experienced since the supply-room door closed.
“Call him.”
Simone unlocked her phone.
Then she hesitated.
“What?” Leah asked.
“If I call him, my family will know where I am.”
Leah understood immediately.
Simone had evidence that could help save Leah’s relationship with her son.
Using it might expose Simone’s own carefully hidden pregnancy.
Leah looked at Eli sleeping against her chest.
“You do not owe me that.”
Simone’s eyes met hers.
“No.”
She looked at the recording on her screen.
“But somebody should have told me that when my fiancé’s mother started making plans for my baby.”
She pressed the call button.
Martin answered on the fourth ring.
“Simone?”
His surprise was loud enough that Mae motioned for her to lower the volume.
“Uncle Martin, I need you not to ask where I am for thirty seconds.”
“That is not a promising opening.”
“I am at Briar Glen.”
Silence.
Then Martin’s voice sharpened.
“Why?”
“I said thirty seconds.”
Simone looked at Leah.
“There is a postpartum patient here named Leah Carver.”
Martin did not respond.
“Her chart may contain entries created before the events they describe.”
Mae leaned closer.
“And a donor with prior hospital access appears to be involved.”
Martin’s tone changed completely.
“Who is speaking?”
“Mae Rowland, maternity RN.”
“Are you on a hospital line?”
“No.”
“Good.”
Leah stared at the phone.
That one word told her more than she wanted to know.
Martin continued.
“Do not send me any patient information from a personal device.”
Mae nodded even though he could not see her.
“Understood.”
“I am calling the administrator on duty and the privacy officer.”
Simone interrupted.
“There is also an audio recording.”
“Of what?”
“A conversation between Dr. Celia Rusk and Doreen Carver about creating circumstances that would produce a reaction from Leah.”
Silence again.
Then Martin asked, “Where is Leah now?”
Mae answered carefully.
“She is safe on the maternity floor with her infant.”
“Is there an active behavioral-health hold?”
“Not that I can verify.”
“Then no one should be representing one as final.”
Leah closed her eyes briefly.
Finally, someone outside Doreen’s circle had said it.
Martin continued.
“I will be there as soon as I can.”
A pounding sound suddenly came from the outer service door.
All three women froze.
A male voice echoed through the narrow passage.
“Hospital security.”
Mae looked at Leah.
The pounding came again.
“We need Nurse Mae Rowland to open the door.”
Simone whispered.
“How did they find us?”
Mae looked at her hospital phone.
Then at the badge clipped to her scrubs.
Her face changed.
“My badge.”
Leah’s stomach dropped.
“They can track where you used it?”
Mae nodded.
The security officer called again.
“Nurse Rowland, open the door.”
Then another voice joined him.
Nathan.
“Leah, please.”
Leah closed her eyes.
Nathan’s voice broke slightly.
“Whatever Mom told you, I need you to hear me.”
Leah looked at Mae.
Mae did not tell her what to do.
This time, the decision belonged to Leah.
She stood slowly, one hand supporting Eli.
Then she moved toward the door.
Nathan spoke again.
“I did not know she was planning to make it permanent.”
Leah stopped.
The air left the room.
Permanent.
Mae stared at the door.
Simone stared at Leah.
Nathan continued from the other side.
“I swear to you, Leah.”
“I thought it was only supposed to be seventy-two hours.”
Leah’s face went completely still.
She finally understood the size of his betrayal.
May you like
Nathan had not just failed to stop Doreen’s plan.
He had agreed to part of it.
