Chương 5
“That is not your responsibility.”
“No.”
I stepped out.
“But it is already something I’m carrying.”
Roman had no answer.
Inside the clinic, a woman in her fifties hurried toward us.
She had a medical bag in one hand and a tired expression on her face.
“Roman.”
“Dr. Ellis.”
Her eyes immediately moved to the babies.
“What happened?”
“They stopped feeding.”
“How long?”
“Almost thirty-six hours.”
Her face changed.
“Why wasn’t I called earlier?”
Roman did not answer.
Neither did Victor.
The doctor looked between them.
Then at me.
“Who are you?”
“Naomi Bell.”
“Family?”
“No.”
“Then why are you here?”
Before I could answer, Roman did.
“Because she helped them when we couldn’t.”
Dr. Ellis looked at him.
That sentence seemed to surprise her.
Maybe because Roman did not say things like that often.
She examined the babies quickly.
I watched her work.
Professional.
Focused.
No panic.
That helped.
After several minutes, she looked up.
“The good news is they are not in immediate danger.”
Nobody relaxed.
Because doctors never said only good news.
“And the bad news?” Victor asked.
“They are showing signs of stress.”
Roman’s jaw tightened.
“From what?”
“Could be many things.”
She looked at the bottles they brought.
“Change in formula.”
“We tried different formulas.”
“That may have made it worse.”
Roman closed his eyes.
“Great.”
The word was quiet.
Almost bitter.
Dr. Ellis looked at him.
“Roman.”
“I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not.”
He looked at her.
For a second, I saw something unexpected.
Someone who knew him before the reputation.
Before the fear.
Before the name.
“You haven’t slept,” she said.
“I have.”
“When?”
He did not answer.
She sighed.
“Exactly.”
I looked away.
It felt strange witnessing someone speak to him like a normal person.
Maybe that was why he listened.
A nurse came in and whispered something to Dr. Ellis.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
The nurse looked uncomfortable.
“Someone called asking if Mr. Vale had arrived.”
The room went still.
Roman’s face changed immediately.
“Who?”
“She didn’t give a name.”
Victor stepped forward.
“Did you tell them anything?”
“No.”
“Good.”
The nurse left.
Dr. Ellis looked at Roman.
“You brought danger here.”
“I brought it with me.”
That answer was so simple that nobody argued.
Because it was true.
Roman looked toward the hallway.
Then at his sons.
Then at me.
And for the first time, I saw the impossible choice in his face.
Protect the children by running.
Or protect them by staying and fighting.
The man who always seemed to know what to do had finally reached the place where there was no clean answer.
Then my phone rang.
I froze.
I had forgotten I even had it.
Everyone looked at me.
The screen showed a number I did not recognize.
I almost ignored it.
Then I saw the first three digits.
My old hospital’s area code.
I answered.
“Hello?”
Nobody spoke.
Only breathing.
Then a woman’s voice whispered.
“Naomi?”
My stomach dropped.
I knew that voice.
I had not heard it in two years.
“Sarah?”
Roman watched my face change.
“Who is it?” he asked.
I could barely hear him.
Because the voice on the phone had just said something that made my hands go cold.
“Naomi, you need to listen carefully.”
A pause.
“Your daughter’s medical file was changed after she died.”
I couldn’t breathe for a second.
Not because of the call.
Because of the name she had not said.
The name my mind had already reached before she finished the sentence.
Lily.
I stepped away from the others without thinking.
“Sarah, what are you talking about?”
My voice sounded wrong.
Too calm.
That was what happened when something inside you became too painful to touch directly.
Across the room, Roman watched me.
He did not move.
But I saw his attention sharpen.
Sarah lowered her voice.
“Where are you?”
“I can’t talk long.”
“Naomi.”
“Where are you?”
A pause.
“I shouldn’t have called.”
That sentence scared me more than the warning.
People did not call after two years because they were bored.
People did not risk reopening wounds unless something was wrong.
“Sarah, tell me what happened.”
“I found something in the system.”
“What system?”
“The hospital records.”
My grip tightened around the phone.
“Lily’s records?”
“Yes.”
The room seemed to shrink.
The sounds around me faded.
The babies.
The machines.
The voices.
Everything became distant.
“What do you mean changed?”
Sarah took a shaky breath.
“I was reviewing archived files for a compliance audit.”
“You still work there?”
“Yes.”
I almost laughed.
Not because it was funny.
Because the world had continued while I had been frozen.
“You found something.”
“I found a correction.”
“A correction?”
“Someone accessed Lily’s file three days after her death.”
My knees felt weak.
I grabbed the edge of a table.
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You’re calling me because you don’t know?”
“I’m calling because the access record was hidden.”
I frowned.
“Hidden how?”
“There are normal edits.”
Her voice became quieter.
“Then there are edits that don’t appear unless you know where to look.”
A cold feeling moved through me.
“Sarah.”
“I found a second set of notes.”
The room went silent again.
“What notes?”
“I can’t explain over the phone.”
“Then explain badly.”
She did not respond.
“Sarah.”
“Naomi, there was a medication entry that was removed.”
My heart stopped.
“What medication?”
“I don’t know.”
“You just said there was an entry.”
“I know.”
“Then find out.”
“I tried.”
The fear in her voice finally appeared.
Someone who worked in a hospital.
Someone who had spent years around sick children.
Someone who had seen emergencies.
And she sounded afraid.
“Someone deleted the backup.”
I looked across the room.
Roman was still watching me.
His expression had changed.
He knew something was wrong.
“Sarah, why are you telling me this now?”
The silence lasted too long.
May you like
Then she said the words that made my entire body go cold.
“Because the person who accessed Lily’s file used a hospital account that belonged to someone connected to Roman Vale.”
