Chapter 7: The Mother Who Died
The hospital doors locked with a heavy metallic click.
Every instinct in me screamed to run.
But my feet wouldn't move.
The woman standing across the lobby looked exactly like the woman in my oldest photographs.
The same dark eyes.
The same narrow face.
The same small scar above her left eyebrow.
My mother.
The woman I had buried in my mind twelve years ago.
“Mom?””
Her expression broke.
For a second, she looked like she might cry.
Then she whispered, “Grace.””
I took one step toward her.
Richard caught my arm.
“Don't.””
I pulled away.
“Let me go.””
“She could be here to help you,” he said, “or she could be here because Daniel sent her.””
My mother heard him.
“Richard, after everything, you still don't trust me?””
“No.””
She gave a sad smile.
“Fair enough.””
Claire stared at her.
“You let me believe you were dead.””
“I had to.””
“You could have told me.””
“I couldn't risk Daniel finding you.””
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“You let me think I failed Grace.””
My mother looked at me.
“You didn't.””
I couldn't speak.
There were a thousand questions inside me.
Why did you leave?
Why did you let me believe you were dead?
Why did you let me think my baby was dead?
Why didn't you come back?
My mother seemed to read every question on my face.
“I wanted to,” she said.
“Then why didn't you?””
She looked toward the locked doors.
“Because Daniel wasn't the only person watching.””
Richard stepped closer.
“Tell her everything.””
My mother nodded.
“The day you gave birth, Daniel wasn't working alone.””
“Who was with him?””
She looked at Claire.
“Your father.””
I froze.
“My father died before I was born.””
“No.””
My mother's voice was barely above a whisper.
“He disappeared.””
Richard looked toward the hospital corridor.
“We don't have time.””
My mother turned to me.
“Daniel discovered that our family carried a rare genetic mutation. Your father had it. I had it. And eventually, you did too.””
“What does that have to do with Emma?””
“You passed it to her.””
I looked through the glass toward the nursery.
“She has it?””
“Yes.””
“And Daniel wanted her because of it?””
My mother nodded.
“He believed he could sell access to the research.””
Claire said, “But Daniel wasn't satisfied with selling it.””
“No,” my mother replied.
“He wanted control.””
A hospital alarm suddenly sounded.
Everyone turned.
A nurse ran toward Emma's room.
“Someone's trying to access the NICU!””
I felt my blood freeze.
I ran.
“Emma!””
The security guard grabbed my shoulder.
“Ma'am, wait!””
“That's my daughter!””
Richard pushed past him.
“Let her through.””
The guard hesitated.
Then the corridor lights flickered.
A man in surgical scrubs appeared at the end of the hall.
He was pushing a medical cart.
Something about him felt wrong.
My mother grabbed my wrist.
“That's not hospital staff.””
The man saw us.
Then he turned.
He ran.
“Stop!””
Security chased him.
The man abandoned the cart and disappeared through a service door.
I rushed into Emma's room.
She was still there.
Still breathing.
Still alive.
I leaned over the crib.
“Oh, sweetheart.””
Her tiny fingers wrapped around mine.
I cried silently.
My mother stood in the doorway.
“She has your hands.””
I looked at her.
“You missed all of this.””
“I know.””
“You missed my first day of school.””
“Yes.””
“My graduation.””
“Yes.””
“You missed me becoming a woman.””
My mother looked down.
“I watched.””
My anger surged.
“From where?””
“Everywhere I could.””
“That isn't being a mother.””
“I know.””
“Then why?””
She closed her eyes.
“Because if Daniel knew I was alive, he would have used you to find me.””
I shook my head.
“You should have trusted me.””
“I couldn't.””
“Why?””
“Because you didn't remember me.””
That stopped me.
“What?””
My mother stepped inside.
“When Daniel drugged you after Emma's birth, he didn't just erase memories of the delivery.””
She looked at Richard.
“He erased memories of me.””
I stared at her.
“He made you believe I abandoned you.””
I remembered my childhood.
The empty chair at school plays.
The birthdays.
The questions I stopped asking.
All those years, I had thought my mother had chosen to leave.
“She didn't,” Claire whispered.
My mother walked closer.
“Daniel told you I was dead.””
I swallowed.
“Why would he do that?””
“Because I had the original research.””
Richard suddenly looked toward the corridor.
“Where is it?””
My mother didn't answer.
He stepped closer.
“Evelyn, where is the research?””
She looked at me.
“I gave it to Grace.””
I frowned.
“You never gave me anything.””
“Yes, I did.””
She touched the necklace around my neck.
I looked down.
A small silver pendant.
I'd worn it since I was seventeen.
My mother smiled sadly.
“You've had it all these years.””
I pulled the chain from beneath my shirt.
The pendant suddenly felt much heavier.
“What is this?””
“Open it.””
My fingers trembled.
The pendant had never opened before.
I twisted the tiny seam.
A hidden compartment popped loose.
Inside was a microSD card.
Richard stared.
“That can't be.””
My mother said, “Everything Daniel spent twelve years searching for is on that card.””
Claire whispered, “The original patient records.””
“And proof,” my mother added, “that Daniel bought babies from three hospitals.””
I stared at the tiny piece of plastic.
“This could put him in prison.””
“It could put several people in prison.””
The corridor lights flickered again.
Then every monitor in the NICU went black.
A voice came over the hospital speakers.
“Security breach.””
The doors slammed shut.
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Grace, we have to leave.””
“No.””
“What?””
“Emma stays with me.””
My mother looked toward the hallway.
Then her face changed.
“That's not what I mean.””
“What?””
She pointed at the nursery window.
Someone was standing on the other side.
A man.
Watching us.
I recognized him immediately.
Daniel's head of security.
But he wasn't supposed to be at the hospital.
He lifted one hand.
In it was a photograph.
He pressed it against the glass.
It showed Lucas.
Bound to a chair.
My heart stopped.
May you like
My mother whispered:
“They took your son.””
