Chương 11
I did not write this letter.
Then another.
Derek told me Patel said it.
Then another.
I signed my statement because I believed him.
My anger did not disappear.
It changed.
It became colder.
Calvin said, “Send the image to me.”
I forwarded it.
Dana was already moving toward the door.
“I’m getting Patel.”
“No.”
Both of them looked at me.
“I’ll get him.”
I stepped into the hallway.
Dr. Patel was at the nurses’ station entering something into a computer.
He looked up when I approached.
“What happened?”
I held out my phone.
“Did you write this?”
He took it.
His eyes moved once across the page.
Then again, more slowly.
His face became completely still.
“No.”
“Is that your signature?”
“No.”
“Did you ever recommend comfort-only care for Holly?”
“No.”
“Did you ever tell Derek I was refusing medically appropriate palliative recommendations?”
“No.”
The nurse beside him stopped typing.
Dr. Patel handed the phone back.
“Where did this come from?”
“A court filing.”
He stared at me.
“What court filing?”
“Derek filed for emergency guardianship.”
The nurse whispered something under her breath.
Dr. Patel looked toward Holly’s room.
Then back at me.
“I need hospital legal involved.”
My stomach tightened.
“Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
“Will they stop treatment?”
“No.”
“Will they delay Boston?”
He hesitated.
That was worse than any immediate answer.
“Not medically.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means if there is a court order affecting decision-making authority, the hospital has to know about it.”
“There is no order yet.”
“Then we proceed under your current authority.”
I exhaled.
He lowered his voice.
“But Marissa, if someone forged my signature on a medical letter submitted to a court, this is larger than a family dispute.”
I looked back through the doorway at Holly.
Captain Bun had fallen sideways against her pillow.
“I know.”
My phone rang again.
This time the screen showed Derek.
For several seconds, I watched his name flash.
Then I answered.
“What?”
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
“You need to stop Calvin.”
I almost laughed.
“Interesting opening.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
“You have no idea what he’s doing.”
“I have a pretty good idea what you’ve been doing.”
“That petition is for Holly’s protection.”
“You forged her doctor’s signature.”
Silence.
Not shock.
Silence.
My grip tightened around the phone.
“You already knew about the letter.”
Derek exhaled.
“Marissa.”
“You knew it was fake.”
“You don’t understand how this works.”
“I understand a fake signature.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be filed.”
I stopped breathing.
Behind me, Calvin stepped into the hallway.
He heard enough from my face.
“What did you just say?” I asked.
Derek’s voice dropped.
“Pell wasn’t supposed to attach that version.”
That version.
The words opened something beneath my feet.
“How many versions are there?”
“Listen to me.”
“No.”
“Marissa, listen.”
“For once in our marriage, you’re going to answer the question.”
His voice sharpened.
“Do you want Holly transferred to Boston or not?”
I froze.
Every hair on my arms lifted.
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Everything.”
Calvin held out his hand for the phone.
I shook my head.
Derek continued.
“You shut down the house deal, the financing collapses.”
“I don’t care.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
“Because the money behind it is also underwriting Holly’s transport and treatment reserve.”
My stomach turned.
“That’s impossible.”
“No.”
“You said you needed her money for your son.”
“I said a lot of things last night.”
“You laughed while she was on a ventilator.”
“I was angry.”
“You said she had a good run.”
His breathing came through the phone.
I could hear traffic behind him.
“I know what I said.”
“Then say what you mean now.”
There was a pause.
When Derek spoke again, his voice sounded tired.
“If that closing fails today, you may lose access to more than the forty-eight thousand.”
I looked at Calvin.
He had gone very still.
“What did you pledge?”
Derek did not answer.
“What did you pledge, Derek?”
His next words came quietly.
“The life insurance policy.”
I frowned.
“What life insurance policy?”
Another pause.
Then he said, “Holly’s.”
I stared at the phone as if the words themselves might rearrange into something less monstrous.
“What do you mean, Holly’s?”
Derek exhaled.
“There’s a policy.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
“I never bought a life insurance policy on Holly.”
“You didn’t.”
My stomach dropped.
“Then who did?”
“I did.”
I pressed one hand against the wall.
Calvin was watching me now with the expression he used when something had gone from ugly to dangerous.
“How?”
“I’m her father.”
“That doesn’t answer the question.”
“It was legal when I opened it.”
“How much?”
He was silent.
“How much, Derek?”
“Two hundred and fifty thousand.”
My mouth went dry.
Calvin held out his hand again.
This time I gave him the phone and switched it to speaker.
He spoke immediately.
“Who owns the policy?”
Derek cursed under his breath.
“Calvin.”
“Who owns it?”
“I do.”
“Beneficiary?”
Another pause.
“Originally Marissa.”
Originally.
The word seemed to echo.
Calvin’s face changed.
“Who is the beneficiary now?”
Derek did not answer.
I stepped closer to the phone.
“Who?”
“Briar Gate.”
For several seconds, no one spoke.
Even the hallway seemed quieter.
I looked at Dana.
She had gone pale.
“You changed the beneficiary to the company buying the house?”
“It’s collateral.”
“For what?”
Derek’s voice sharpened.
“It’s not like that.”
“It sounds exactly like that.”
“You are making it sound like I want her to die.”
I almost dropped the phone.
“Do you hear yourself?”
“I’m trying to explain.”
“Then explain why a company connected to your fired coworker gets paid if my daughter dies.”
“It doesn’t automatically get paid.”
Calvin spoke before I could.
“If Briar Gate is named beneficiary, then yes, absent another controlling arrangement, it could receive proceeds.”
“It’s temporary.”
“For what debt?”
Derek hesitated.
That hesitation said more than any answer.
Calvin’s voice went cold.
“What debt?”
“It’s complicated.”
May you like
“No.”
I took the phone back.
