Chapter 7: The Baby Who Left the Hospital
For several seconds, Marcus couldn't hear anything except the pounding of his own heart.
Diane stood in the doorway, her cream robe hanging loosely around her shoulders. Her eyes moved from the laptop to the papers on the counter, then to Eli, who was beginning to stir in Nia's arms.
Marcus stepped between his mother and his wife.
"Explain what you just said.""
Diane swallowed.
"I told you the truth.""
"No. You gave me a sentence designed to frighten everyone in this room. Now you're going to explain exactly what it means.""
Nia held Eli closer.
"Diane, what happened to my baby?""
Diane looked away.
Marcus noticed her hands trembling.
"Mom.""
She finally raised her eyes.
"The clinic had problems. Serious problems. There were administrative failures, mistakes in the records, and people making decisions without telling the families.""
"What kind of mistakes?"" Marcus demanded.
"Patient identification. Transfer records. Documentation.""
Marcus pointed at the screen.
"You're telling me a clinic lost track of babies?""
"I'm telling you I don't know everything that happened there.""
"But you know enough to frighten my wife, obtain a questionable DNA report, and arrange for her to leave tomorrow.""
Diane's face tightened.
"I didn't want this to happen.""
"Then why did you hide it?""
She looked at Nia.
"Because I believed the less you knew, the safer everyone would be.""
Nia shook her head.
"You don't get to decide what I know about my own child.""
"I was trying to protect you!""
"From the truth?""
Diane didn't answer.
Nia stood, carefully supporting Eli's head.
"You told me I was an unfit mother. You told me Marcus wanted me gone. You made me wash dishes while I carried our son on my back. And all this time, you knew something might have happened at the hospital?""
Diane's eyes filled.
"I never wanted to hurt you.""
Nia's voice broke.
"But you did.""
Marcus took a breath and forced himself to think clearly.
There were too many unanswered questions. The altered-looking report. The transfer authorization.
The second infant identification number. The mysterious woman named Michelle Brooks.
He needed facts, not another argument.
"Did you personally take Nia to that private clinic?"" he asked.
Diane nodded.
"Yes.""
"Did you take Eli there?""
"Yes.""
"Why?""
"Because the first hospital recommended additional monitoring.""
"Do you have the original referral?""
Diane hesitated.
"Somewhere.""
"Where?""
"I don't remember.""
Marcus pulled out his phone.
"Then we'll request it directly from the hospital and the clinic's records custodian.""
Diane grabbed his wrist.
"Don't.""
He looked down at her hand.
"Let go.""
She released him immediately.
"If you start digging through those records, you won't be able to undo what you find.""
Marcus stared at her.
"That's the point. Whatever happened, we have to know.""
Diane's shoulders sagged.
For the first time, she looked less like a woman in control and more like someone who had spent eighteen months trying to hold a collapsing wall together with her bare hands.
"There was another baby," she whispered.
Nia stopped moving.
Marcus felt the room go cold.
"What?""
Diane looked at Eli.
"Michelle Brooks gave birth the same night as Nia. Both babies needed additional monitoring. There was confusion during a transfer, and the clinic's records were incomplete.""
Nia shook her head.
"No.""
"I don't know whether the babies were switched," Diane said quickly.
"I never saw anything that proved it.""
Marcus's voice rose.
"Then why did you say the baby who left the hospital might not have been the baby who entered it?""
"Because I found discrepancies in the records!""
"What discrepancies?""
Diane looked at the papers.
"Different identification numbers. Missing signatures. A transfer that nobody could properly explain.""
Marcus stared at her.
"And you sat on this information for eighteen months?""
"I was told the matter had been resolved.""
"By whom?""
Diane's lips trembled.
"A doctor at the clinic.""
"Name?""
She closed her eyes.
"Dr. Samuel Whitaker.""
Marcus immediately wrote it down.
Nia looked at Diane with disbelief.
"You knew there might have been a mistake involving my son, and you never told me?""
"I was assured the babies were correctly identified.""
"Then why did you buy those tickets?""
Diane looked at the floor.
"Because Michelle contacted me.""
Marcus turned sharply.
"Michelle Brooks contacted you?""
"Yes.""
"When?""
"Three weeks ago.""
Nia's face drained of color.
"What did she want?""
Diane took a shaky breath.
"She said she had reason to believe the clinic had concealed what happened that night. She wanted me to help her obtain records.""
Marcus studied his mother.
"And instead of telling us, you contacted Terrence, fabricated a paternity crisis, and tried to send Nia away?""
"I didn't fabricate anything! Terrence was part of Nia's past, and I thought he might have relevant information.""
"He didn't even know she was pregnant!""
Diane flinched.
"I made a mistake.""
"You keep saying that as if the words repair anything.""
A small sound came from Eli.
He had woken and was looking up at Nia, his dark eyes bright with sleep.
Nia kissed his forehead.
"Nobody is taking my son anywhere," she said.
Diane nodded quickly.
"I never intended to take him from you.""
"You packed his clothes.""
"I thought if you left voluntarily, we could avoid a scandal.""
Nia stared at her.
"You wanted me to leave because you were afraid someone would discover the truth.""
Diane didn't deny it.
Marcus returned to the laptop.
The transfer authorization listed a patient reference number and the name of the private clinic. He took photographs of every page, saved the video separately, and began drafting a request for the original records.
Then he looked at the hospital document again.
"Mom, did you sign this transfer authorization?""
Diane examined it.
"Yes.""
"Did Nia sign it?""
"I don't remember.""
Nia shook her head.
"I never signed anything authorizing a transfer to another state.""
Diane looked stricken.
"I thought you had.""
"You thought? You took me there. You spoke to the staff. You handled the paperwork.""
"I was trying to help!""
Marcus put the document down.
"From now on, you don't handle anything involving my wife or son without their explicit permission.""
Diane lowered her head.
Then a phone vibrated on the kitchen island.
It was Nia's.
She glanced at the screen.
An unknown number.
A message appeared.
My name is Michelle Brooks. I know what happened at the clinic. Your mother-in-law has been lying to both of us.
Nia's fingers went numb.
Marcus read the message over her shoulder.
Another message arrived.
I have records showing which baby left the clinic with which family.
Marcus immediately typed a reply.
Who are you, and how did you get this number?
The response came within seconds.
Diane gave it to me eighteen months ago. She told me you would never believe me.
Marcus turned toward his mother.
Diane had gone completely pale.
"Mom?""
She backed away from the island.
"I didn't know she would contact you.""
Nia looked at the screen again.
A third message appeared.
Meet me tomorrow morning. Bring Eli's original birth certificate. Do not bring Terrence.
Marcus typed another question.
Why not Terrence?
This time, the reply took longer.
Then the phone vibrated.
Because Terrence isn't the only man Diane has been using to hide what happened.
Marcus read the sentence aloud.
Nia looked at him.
Diane covered her mouth.
May you like
And for the first time, Marcus understood that the woman who had tried to send his wife away might not have been hiding one secret.
She might have been hiding an entire chain of them.
