Chương 6
I stared at the phone.
For several seconds, I forgot how to speak.
“What?”
“I don’t know what it means.”
“Who?”
“Naomi.”
“Who?”
Sarah whispered the name.
And suddenly the room had a new center.
Not the babies.
Not the threat outside.
Not Roman.
A person who had been buried in my grief for two years.
“Doctor Adrian Kessler.”
The name meant nothing at first.
Then everything.
I knew him.
Not well.
But enough.
He had been one of the doctors present the night Lily died.
He had been the doctor who told me there was nothing more they could do.
He had been the man who avoided looking directly at me when he delivered the news.
My hand went numb.
“Why would he have access?”
“I don’t know.”
“Sarah.”
“I don’t know.”
Her voice cracked.
“But Naomi, you need to be careful.”
“With what?”
“Whoever changed that file knew how to hide it.”
I looked at Roman.
At the man whose life had somehow collided with mine in the strangest possible way.
“Sarah, why did you really call me?”
Another pause.
Then:
“Because someone asked about you yesterday.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“You said someone.”
“I saw your name in a request.”
“What request?”
“Medical records.”
My stomach tightened.
“Whose records?”
Sarah did not answer.
She did not need to.
I already knew.
“Roman’s children?”
Silence.
That was enough.
The call ended.
I stood there holding the phone.
Not moving.
Not thinking.
Just trying to place two impossible things together.
Lily.
Roman.
A hospital file.
Three babies who had appeared in my life because of a train ride.
It felt impossible.
But impossible things had a way of becoming real when enough people lied about them.
“Naomi.”
Roman’s voice brought me back.
I looked up.
He had moved closer.
Not too close.
Like he was giving me room.
“What happened?”
I almost said nothing.
The old instinct returned.
Protect yourself.
Keep your pain private.
Do not hand strangers the parts of you that can be used against you.
Then I looked at Jude.
At his tiny face.
At Roman standing there with the same helpless expression I had carried after Lily died.
And I made a decision.
“I got a call from someone I used to work with.”
Roman waited.
“She found something in my daughter’s medical records.”
His expression changed.
Not dramatically.
But enough.
“What kind of something?”
“A hidden file access.”
Victor, who had been standing near the door, looked over.
“Hidden access?”
I looked at him.
“You know what that means?”
“No.”
But his answer came too quickly.
Roman noticed too.
“Victor.”
Victor looked away.
“I’m thinking.”
“That is not an answer.”
“No.”
Victor rubbed his jaw.
“It's not.”
The tension between them returned instantly.
Dr. Ellis looked confused.
“Why would your daughter’s records connect to Roman?”
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
That was the terrifying part.
Roman stepped closer.
“Who accessed the file?”
I hesitated.
Then said it.
“Doctor Adrian Kessler.”
The reaction was immediate.
Roman went still.
Victor’s face changed.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
I noticed.
“You know him.”
Roman looked at Victor.
Victor looked back.
A conversation happened without words.
I hated that.
I hated being the last person in the room to understand my own life.
“Who is he?” I asked.
Roman did not answer immediately.
That scared me.
“He was Elise’s doctor.”
The room became silent.
“What?”
“He treated my wife during her pregnancy.”
I stared at him.
“Your wife?”
“Yes.”
“Your children?”
Roman nodded.
“Before they were born.”
The pieces refused to connect.
“My daughter died two years ago.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
His expression changed.
“I didn’t know about your daughter.”
“Then why did you say that?”
“Because Victor mentioned your name.”
I looked at Victor.
“When?”
“Before we left the train.”
“Why?”
Victor looked uncomfortable.
“I ran a basic check.”
“A basic check?”
“I needed to know who was walking into Roman’s life.”
I felt anger rise.
“You investigated me?”
“Yes.”
The honesty made it worse.
“And you found my daughter?”
“No.”
Victor looked directly at me.
“I found your hospital employment history.”
Roman looked at him.
“You knew?”
“Not this.”
Victor’s voice lowered.
“I did not know this.”
The room filled with something new.
Not fear.
Suspicion.
Roman looked toward the hallway.
Then at his sons.
Then back at me.
“Adrian Kessler was involved in Elise’s care.”
“And?”
“He was supposed to help us understand why she died.”
I felt a chill.
“Why she died?”
Roman’s face hardened.
“Elise’s death was ruled natural.”
“But?”
He did not answer.
That was the answer.
“But.”
I stepped back slightly.
“How many things are you not telling me?”
Roman looked at me.
For once, he did not seem offended.
He looked ashamed.
“Too many.”
That honesty hurt more than a lie.
Before I could respond, every phone in the room started vibrating.
Mine.
Roman’s.
Victor’s.
Even Dr. Ellis’s.
A message.
Same time.
Same sender.
Nobody moved first.
Then Roman picked up his phone.
His face changed as he read.
“What is it?” Victor asked.
Roman handed him the screen.
Victor read it.
Then looked at me.
I knew before he spoke.
“What does it say?”
Victor’s voice was quiet.
“It says the truth about Lily Bell was never buried.”
The room went completely still.
Then Roman looked at me.
Not like a stranger.
Not like someone he needed.
Like someone whose pain had somehow been connected to his own.
And outside the clinic, a car door slammed.
The sound of the car door outside changed everything.
Victor moved first.
Not quickly.
Not dramatically.
Just one step toward the entrance, one hand already reaching inside his jacket.
Dr. Ellis noticed.
“Not here.”
Victor looked at her.
“What?”
“This is a medical facility.”
His eyes narrowed.
“And?”
“And people come here because they need help.”
Victor glanced toward the hallway.
“People also come here because they know someone will be vulnerable.”
Nobody argued with him.
May you like
That was the problem.
Everyone in that room understood exactly what he meant.
