CHAPTER 2: THE FILE THAT DIDN’T EXIST
By midnight, the hospital went from routine chaos to controlled lockdown.
Two officers arrived within minutes.
Then a CPS investigator named Daniel Reyes.
Megan walked him through everything—the hat, the staples, the missing chart.
But when Daniel checked the hospital system, he frowned.
“There’s no patient named Toby registered here today.”
“That’s impossible,” Megan said.
“He was in front of me.”
Daniel tried again. Different spelling. Different DOB.
Nothing.
Then a junior nurse remembered something.
“He came in with a private transport team. Not ambulance. A black van. No markings.”
That detail changed everything.
Daniel stepped away and made a phone call.
When he came back, his face had gone pale.
“That wasn’t a stepdad,” he said quietly. “Not legally.”
“Then what is he?”
Daniel hesitated.
“A private custody contractor. Court-sealed transfer.”
Megan felt her stomach drop.
“That’s not a thing.”
“It is when records are sealed and money is involved.”
Outside, rain started hitting the ER windows harder.
Toby was in a pediatric isolation room now, sitting quietly on the bed.
Still wearing the hat.
Refusing to take it off again.
When Megan approached, he finally looked at her.
And asked:
“Am I safe now?”
May you like
She wanted to say yes.
But she didn’t know yet.
