Chương 3
“There was a correction request attached to the prenatal file.”
Lauren frowned.
“What kind of correction?”
“I don’t know the details.”
“But you saw it.”
The nurse hesitated.
“Briefly.”
Daniel noticed the way she avoided saying yes.
“What did it say?”
She looked uncomfortable.
“Something about the mother’s information being updated.”
Lauren’s face tightened.
“I’m the mother.”
“I know.”
“No, I mean my information.”
The nurse nodded slowly.
“That’s why it stood out.”
Daniel looked at Lauren.
Neither of them spoke.
The silence between them felt heavier than the accusation from the hospital.
Because a stranger questioning their family was frightening.
But a mistake connected to Lauren was different.
It touched something closer.
Something that had existed before this room.
Before today.
Before their daughter.
Lauren looked away.
“Why didn’t anyone tell me there was an update?”
The nurse did not answer immediately.
“I think everyone thought it was already handled.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No,” the nurse admitted.
“It isn’t.”
A few minutes later, after the nurse left, Daniel remained standing near the window with the baby in his arms.
The city outside moved as if nothing had happened.
Cars stopped at lights.
People carried coffee cups across sidewalks.
A man in a blue jacket argued quietly on his phone outside the entrance.
Daniel watched him until he realized he was avoiding looking at Lauren.
“Say something,” she said.
He turned.
“What?”
“You’re doing that thing.”
“What thing?”
“The thing where you go quiet because you’re trying to solve everything alone.”
Daniel looked down.
“I’m trying not to make this worse.”
“You think talking makes it worse?”
“Sometimes.”
Lauren gave a tired laugh that contained no humor.
“That’s a very Daniel answer.”
He sat beside her.
The baby slept between them.
“I’m not blaming you.”
“I know.”
“But you’re scared.”
“Yes.”
The honesty surprised him.
Lauren had always been the person who found a way to stand upright when things became difficult.
She cried privately.
She worried privately.
She broke privately.
Seeing fear on her face made him feel more helpless than any accusation could.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he said.
She stared at the ceiling.
“I’m thinking that I spent nine months doing everything right.”
Daniel waited.
“I went to every appointment.”
Her voice became quieter.
“I took every test.”
“I know.”
“I answered every question.”
“I know.”
“And somehow there’s a piece of paper somewhere saying something different.”
Daniel reached for her hand.
She let him hold it, but her fingers stayed stiff.
Like she was holding herself together by force.
The door opened before either of them could say more.
Marissa Cole stepped inside with another man behind her.
He was older, wearing a dark suit that looked too formal for the hospital.
“This is Thomas Reed from compliance,” Marissa said.
Daniel immediately disliked the introduction.
Not because of Thomas.
Because people only brought in someone from compliance when a problem had moved beyond a simple mistake.
Thomas offered a small nod.
“Mr. and Mrs. Mercer.”
“Is there a reason we need another person in the room?” Daniel asked.
Thomas glanced at Marissa.
Then back at him.
“We need to clarify the situation.”
“That usually means nobody clarified anything before.”
Marissa opened her mouth, but Thomas stopped her with a small gesture.
“I understand your frustration.”
Daniel almost smiled.
Everyone understood his frustration.
Nobody seemed able to fix the reason for it.
Thomas placed a folder on the table.
“The issue relates to a discrepancy between the information provided during prenatal care and the information connected to the birth registration process.”
Lauren looked at the folder.
“Can we see it?”
Thomas paused.
“We can review certain portions.”
“Certain portions?”
“There are privacy rules involved.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“Privacy rules involving my wife and my child?”
Thomas remained calm.
“Involving medical records and state documentation.”
Lauren looked at him.
“What exactly is wrong?”
Thomas opened the folder.
“The birth registration request initially listed you as the mother.”
Lauren’s shoulders lowered slightly.
“That sounds right.”
“However,” Thomas continued, “another submission was received afterward with a correction.”
“What correction?”
Thomas looked at the paper.
“The second submission removed your name temporarily pending verification.”
The room became still.
Daniel felt Lauren’s hand tighten around his.
“Who submitted it?” Daniel asked.
Thomas looked uncomfortable.
“That information is part of the review.”
“Again?”
“Yes.”
Daniel stood.
“Someone can remove my wife from our daughter’s paperwork, and you’re telling us you can’t say who?”
Thomas looked at him carefully.
“I’m telling you that we need to determine whether it was an intentional change, an administrative error, or a fraudulent submission.”
The word sat in the room.
Fraudulent.
Lauren looked toward the baby.
Daniel saw the fear return.
Not fear of losing the baby.
Something deeper.
Fear that there was a piece of her own life she did not understand.
“Have you contacted anyone else?” she asked.
Thomas looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“Family.”
“No.”
“Friends?”
“No.”
“Someone from my past?”
Daniel looked at her.
The question came out too quickly.
Thomas noticed.
“So there is someone you think we should know about?”
Lauren closed her eyes briefly.
“No.”
But the answer sounded incomplete.
Daniel waited until Thomas and Marissa left the room before speaking.
“Who?”
Lauren looked at him.
“Daniel.”
“Who?”
She looked down at the blanket covering their daughter.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“I know.”
The words came out sharper than she intended.
She immediately looked guilty.
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel sat back.
The old instinct inside him told him to make things easier for her.
To say it was fine.
To say they would figure it out.
But something had changed.
Not because he trusted her less.
Because he realized she was afraid of something she had not told him about.
And that scared him more.
“How can you not know?”
Lauren rubbed her forehead.
“Because there are things from before you.”
Daniel felt the sentence land between them.
May you like
Not like betrayal.
Like a door opening somewhere he did not know existed.
