Chapter 6 - The Name on the Hospital File
The voice came from the newborn ward.
“Mara.”
She froze.
Dominic turned toward the corridor.
The voice came again.
“Mara Vascari.”
Mara's fingers tightened around the hospital bracelet.
She knew that voice.
Not from the hospital.
Not from Dominic.
From somewhere much older.
A memory she had buried so deeply that she had convinced herself it never happened.
Dominic looked at her.
“You know him.”
Mara shook her head.
“I don't know.”
“You recognized the voice.”
“I said I don't know.”
The hospital lights flickered again.
Then the corridor went dark.
Emergency lights glowed along the floor.
Dominic stepped in front of Mara.
“Stay behind me.”
A door slammed somewhere ahead.
Mara flinched.
Then a baby's cry pierced the darkness.
Dominic reached for his weapon.
A nurse whispered,
“Don't.”
He turned.
“Why?”
The nurse pointed toward the newborn ward.
“That's where the voice came from.”
Dominic's expression hardened.
“Then we're going there.”
“No.”
The nurse grabbed his sleeve.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
She looked toward Mara.
“The east corridor was sealed twenty years ago.”
Dominic frowned.
“This isn't the east corridor.”
“It is now.”
Mara stared at the walls.
She suddenly noticed something she had never seen before.
A faded blue line ran along the floor.
It disappeared beneath the hospital doors.
“Dominic.”
He followed her gaze.
“What?”
“That line.”
The nurse nodded.
“The old east wing.”
Mara's heart began racing.
“Why is it open?”
“It shouldn't be.”
Dominic moved toward the doors.
The nurse whispered,
“Wait.”
He stopped.
“What?”
“The last person who opened that corridor disappeared.”
“Who?”
“Dr. Adrian Cole.”
Mara's breath caught.
Dominic looked at her.
“Your doctor.”
She nodded.
The doors at the end of the corridor suddenly unlocked.
Click.
Dominic drew his gun.
Mara whispered,
“Don't.”
He looked back.
“Why?”
“Because if someone wanted us to follow them…”
She swallowed.
“…they're expecting you to.”
Dominic lowered the weapon slightly.
He understood.
They moved together.
The nurse followed reluctantly.
The doors opened into a narrow passage.
Dust covered the floor.
The hospital smell disappeared.
Everything smelled old.
Metal.
Smoke.
Mold.
Mara held Dominic's arm.
“It's freezing.”
He looked at her.
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
At the end of the corridor was a door.
Above it:
ROOM 17.
Dominic stopped.
The old photograph in his pocket suddenly felt heavier.
Three babies.
Three numbers.
Three lives.
He opened the door.
Inside was a small abandoned nursery.
Three empty bassinets stood against the wall.
One had collapsed beneath years of dust.
One was covered by a white sheet.
The third was clean.
Fresh.
Mara stared.
“Someone has been here.”
Dominic approached it.
Inside lay a folded baby blanket.
Pink.
Soft.
New.
Mara's eyes filled.
“This is for her.”
Dominic touched the blanket.
A small card was tucked beneath it.
He pulled it out.
One sentence.
SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE THIRD.
Mara stared.
“The third what?”
Dominic looked around.
“Child.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“No, that's not what it means.”
“Then what?”
Mara stepped closer.
Her eyes moved across the three bassinets.
“The nurse said there were three babies.”
“Yes.”
“But only two were Vascari.”
Dominic looked at her.
“According to the records.”
Mara pointed toward the clean bassinet.
“This one was prepared for someone.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
A noise came from behind them.
They turned.
The nurse stood frozen in the doorway.
“What?”
She pointed at the wall.
There was an old photograph hanging crookedly above the bassinets.
Dominic removed it.
The photograph showed three newborns.
But unlike the previous picture, this one showed their faces.
The first baby wore a blue bracelet.
The second wore white.
The third wore pink.
Mara stepped closer.
Her breath stopped.
She knew the woman holding the third baby.
“That's…”
Dominic looked at her.
“Who?”
Mara touched the photograph.
“My mother.”
Dominic went still.
“You've never told me what she looked like.”
Mara shook her head.
“Because I barely remember her.”
The photograph showed a younger version of the woman Mara had known only from an old portrait.
But there was something else.
The woman was not looking at the baby.
She was looking at someone standing outside the frame.
A man.
Only part of his shoulder was visible.
A black suit.
A silver watch.
Dominic stared.
“That watch.”
Mara looked at him.
“You recognize it?”
“Yes.”
“Whose?”
Dominic's face hardened.
“My father's.”
The nurse covered her mouth.
Mara stepped backward.
“Your father was there?”
“Apparently.”
“Then he knew.”
Dominic turned the photograph over.
Nothing.
He examined the edges.
Then noticed a small tear.
Something had been removed.
A paper label.
Mara whispered,
“Look at the baby's bracelet.”
The pink bracelet carried a number.
019.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“That's the same number as yours.”
Mara looked at her own hospital bracelet.
Then at the photograph.
Her daughter had been assigned 019.
The baby in the photograph had also been assigned 019.
“That can't be.”
Dominic stared at the two numbers.
“It can.”
“But why?”
A soft sound came from the hallway.
Footsteps.
Someone was approaching.
Dominic turned off the light.
He pulled Mara behind the door.
The nurse crouched beside the wall.
The footsteps grew louder.
Slow.
Measured.
One.
Two.
Three.
The handle moved.
Dominic raised his gun.
The door opened.
A man stood outside.
Dark coat.
Gray hair.
Blood on one sleeve.
Mara recognized him instantly.
“Dr. Cole.”
The doctor stared at her.
Then at Dominic.
He looked exhausted.
Terrified.
“You shouldn't have come here.”
Dominic stepped forward.
“You disappeared.”
“I had to.”
“You knew Mara was pregnant.”
Cole looked at Mara.
“Yes.”
“You knew about the threats.”
“Yes.”
“You knew about the babies.”
Cole's face tightened.
“Yes.”
Dominic grabbed his collar.
“Then start talking.”
Cole didn't fight.
He simply stared at Mara.
“You were never supposed to survive.”
Dominic's grip tightened.
“Who threatened her?”
Cole looked toward the hallway.
“Not here.”
“You have ten seconds.”
“Dominic.”
Mara touched his arm.
“Let him speak.”
Cole swallowed.
“Your father discovered something before you were born.”
“What?”
“He discovered that your mother had been seeing another man.”
Dominic's face became expressionless.
“Who?”
Cole shook his head.
“That isn't the important part.”
“It is to me.”
“The important part is what happened afterward.”
Cole stepped into the room.
He looked at the three bassinets.
“Your father believed one of the children wasn't his.”
Dominic stared.
“The twins.”
“Yes.”
“And the third?”
Cole looked at Mara.
“The third baby was not supposed to exist.”
Mara frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Cole hesitated.
“She wasn't born that night.”
Silence.
Dominic's eyes narrowed.
“Then who is in that photograph?”
Cole looked down.
“The child your mother was holding was born several weeks earlier.”
Mara felt dizzy.
“Then why was she in Room 17?”
“Because she was brought there.”
“By whom?”
Cole looked at Dominic.
“Your father.”
Dominic took one step forward.
“Why?”
“Because he needed a replacement.”
Mara's blood went cold.
“A replacement for what?”
Cole's eyes filled with fear.
“For you.”
Dominic froze.
“What?”
“Your father believed you were dead.”
The room went silent.
Cole continued.
“The baby wearing the blue bracelet died shortly after birth.”
Dominic stared at him.
“No.”
“The second baby survived.”
“My brother.”
“Yes.”
“Then who am I?”
Cole's face crumpled.
“That is what your father spent twenty-nine years hiding.”
Mara looked between them.
Dominic's breathing became uneven.
“Which baby survived?”
Cole didn't answer.
Dominic grabbed him again.
“Which one?”
Cole whispered,
“The boy with the white bracelet.”
Dominic went still.
Mara stared at him.
“You were the white bracelet.”
Dominic shook his head.
“No.”
Cole nodded.
“You were.”
“Then who was the blue?”
“Your brother.”
“And the third?”
Cole closed his eyes.
“That baby was Mara.”
Mara felt the room tilt.
“What?”
Dominic turned toward her.
Cole continued.
“Your mother gave birth to three children.”
Mara whispered,
“I wasn't born with them.”
“No.”
“Then why am I in the photograph?”
“Because your mother took you.”
Mara's face went blank.
Dominic stared at the doctor.
“You're saying Mara was raised under another name?”
Cole nodded.
“Your mother believed the third child was the only one who could expose what your father had done.”
Mara shook her head.
“My mother died when I was six.”
“No.”
Cole looked at her.
“She didn't.”
Mara stopped breathing.
Dominic's expression changed.
“She disappeared.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because your father found her.”
Mara's eyes filled with tears.
“You knew?”
Cole looked away.
“I helped her disappear.”
“Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because she made me promise.”
“To protect me?”
“Yes.”
“From whom?”
Cole stared at Dominic.
“From your family.”
Dominic stepped back.
“My family is dead.”
“Not all of them.”
The lights suddenly came back.
Everyone froze.
The corridor outside was empty.
Then Dominic's phone vibrated.
A message.
Unknown number.
He opened it.
One photograph appeared.
It showed the old Vascari estate.
A woman stood in front of the gates.
Red dress.
Cream handbag.
Celeste.
But she wasn't alone.
Beside her stood an older man.
Dominic stared at the photograph.
His face drained of color.
Mara whispered,
“Who is that?”
Dominic couldn't answer.
Because he recognized the man.
His father's closest adviser.
A man Dominic had watched buried twenty years ago.
Dr. Cole saw the photograph.
His face went white.
“No.”
Dominic looked at him.
“You know him.”
Cole stepped backward.
“He was supposed to be dead.”
Another message appeared.
This time, only four words.
BRING MARA TO THE ESTATE.
Then a third message arrived.
A photograph of Mara's newborn daughter.
She was asleep in the neonatal ward.
Beside her crib stood a woman wearing a red dress.
May you like
And beneath the photograph was one final sentence:
SHE ALREADY KNOWS HER MOTHER IS COMING.
