Chương 7
The hallway was quieter than the rest of the hospital.
Not empty.
Just forgotten.
A maintenance worker pushed a cart past them.
An old printer hummed somewhere behind a closed office door.
A sign pointed toward medical records.
Ethan looked at it.
“This is where they keep information.”
Lena looked at him.
“Information people don’t want changed.”
The sentence bothered him because it sounded too certain.
“What do you mean?”
She shook her head.
“I don’t know.”
He gave her a look.
She sighed.
“Sorry.”
A small, tired smile crossed his face.
“You really do that a lot.”
“I know.”
They reached the archive entrance.
The door was locked.
Ethan pulled out his phone and called Claire.
She answered after one ring.
“Where are you?”
“Outside the records room.”
“Are you alone?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Lena is here.”
Silence.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
Ethan noticed.
“Claire.”
“I know who she is.”
The words changed the hallway.
Lena went still.
Ethan stared at the phone.
“You told me you didn’t.”
“I said I didn’t know her.”
“That is not what you meant.”
Claire breathed out.
“I knew of her.”
Lena stepped closer.
“How?”
Claire did not answer immediately.
Ethan put the phone on speaker.
“Start explaining.”
Claire’s voice became quieter.
“When I was in the hospital after Mia was born, I heard a nurse talking about another mother.”
“Ava’s mother.”
Lena closed her eyes.
“Yes,” Claire said.
“She was asking questions.”
“About what?”
“About a transfer review.”
Ethan looked at Lena.
“You knew about this.”
“No.”
Lena shook her head.
“I knew the words.”
Claire continued.
“She was upset because she believed the hospital had moved something in the records.”
“Moved what?”
“I don’t know.”
The answer frustrated Ethan.
But this time he noticed something important.
Claire was not avoiding.
She was afraid.
“Then why did you recognize Lena?”
“Because I saw her outside the neonatal unit.”
Claire’s voice cracked slightly.
“She was crying.”
Lena looked away.
“I remember.”
Ethan watched them both.
Two women carrying different versions of the same place.
Same hospital.
Different losses.
Claire continued.
“The night Mia was born, a hospital administrator came into my room.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Adrian Vale.”
Lena’s face changed.
Ethan noticed immediately.
“You know that name.”
“I heard it.”
“Where?”
“In one of the documents.”
Claire continued before Ethan could ask more.
“He told me there had been an unusual situation involving newborn care.”
“What situation?”
“He said Mia needed additional protection.”
Ethan’s stomach tightened.
“And you believed him?”
“I had just given birth.”
Claire’s voice became unsteady.
“I had a fever, I could barely stand, and every person in that room acted like they were trying to help me.”
She paused.
“Then they put the document in front of me.”
“What did it say?”
“That St. Anne’s could temporarily make decisions regarding Mia’s care if they believed there was a risk.”
Ethan looked at Mia.
“She was never at risk.”
“I know that now.”
The words hurt.
“You didn’t know then?”
Claire went silent.
That silence was worse.
“I knew you would fight.”
Ethan stared at the phone.
“What?”
“I knew you would demand answers.”
“And that was a problem?”
“No.”
Claire’s voice broke.
“That was why I was afraid.”
The hallway became quiet.
“Afraid of me?”
“No.”
A pause.
“Afraid they would use you against me.”
Ethan did not speak.
Claire continued.
“After I signed, I started asking questions.”
“What questions?”
“Why they needed my permission.”
“And?”
“They stopped answering.”
The locked door in front of them suddenly clicked.
All three of them froze.
The door opened slowly.
A man stepped out carrying a file box.
He was in his fifties.
Gray hair.
Hospital identification badge.
Dr. Adrian Vale.
He looked at Ethan.
Then at Lena.
Then at Mia.
His expression changed slightly.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t find this room yet.”
Ethan stepped forward.
“Who are you?”
The man looked at the baby.
“I’m the person who can explain why your daughter’s name appears in places it should never have appeared.”
Lena moved closer to Ethan.
Dr. Vale noticed.
“Ms. Parker.”
Her face went pale.
“You remember me.”
“I remember everyone who lost something here.”
The words sounded almost gentle.
That made them worse.
Ethan held Mia tighter.
“What did you do?”
Dr. Vale looked at him.
“I didn’t do what you think.”
“Then tell me what happened.”
The doctor glanced down the hallway.
“We don’t have much time.”
“Why?”
Because the security alarm on the records floor began to ring.
Dr. Vale looked toward the sound.
Then back at Ethan.
“Because someone else just realized you are here.”
The alarm continued ringing above them, sharp and repetitive, cutting through the quiet hallway.
Ethan did not move.
He stared at Dr. Vale, trying to decide whether the man in front of him was a threat, a witness, or something worse.
“Turn that off.”
Dr. Vale looked at him.
“I can’t.”
“You work here.”
“Not anymore.”
The answer landed strangely.
Ethan looked at the identification badge hanging from the doctor’s neck.
“You’re wearing a hospital badge.”
“Old habits.”
Dr. Vale removed it and placed it on top of the file box.
The gesture was small.
Almost meaningless.
But Ethan noticed.
The man was separating himself from the hospital before he said anything else.
“Where is Claire?” Ethan asked.
“She’s safe.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one I have right now.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“You don’t get to walk out of a locked records room and talk like you’re helping me.”
Dr. Vale did not back away.
“I understand why you’re angry.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do.”
The doctor glanced at Mia.
“Because two weeks ago, you believed your biggest problem was learning how to take care of your daughter.”
Ethan’s expression changed.
Dr. Vale continued.
“Now you’re wondering whether the people who were supposed to protect her were the people you needed protection from.”
The words were too accurate.
May you like
That bothered Ethan.
“How do you know what I’m wondering?”
