Chapter 2 - The Nurse Who Knew My Secret
"I know you're awake."
The words froze my entire body.
For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.
The hospital hallway disappeared.
The cold floor beneath my stretcher disappeared.
The sound of distant machines and footsteps disappeared.
There was only that voice.
A voice that shouldn't have known.
A voice that had just confirmed my biggest fear.
Someone knew I had been pretending.
Slowly, I opened my eyes.
Not fully.
Just enough to see who was standing beside me.
It was the nurse.
The same nurse who had checked my pulse.
The same nurse who had told Dr. Cole that I didn't need to know everything.
Her name tag read:
Sarah Mitchell.
She stood there with a worried expression.
Not angry.
Not threatening.
Afraid.
"Please don't scream," she whispered.
My heart was pounding.
"How long have you known?"
My voice came out weak.
Sarah looked toward the end of the hallway.
Then she pulled the curtain around my stretcher.
"Since the moment you closed your eyes."
I stared at her.
"Then why didn't you tell him?"
Her face changed.
Like she was fighting with herself.
"Because I saw what he was doing."
My fingers tightened around the blanket.
"What was he doing?"
Sarah swallowed.
"Changing your records."
The words hit harder than I expected.
I already knew something was wrong.
But hearing someone else say it made it real.
"What records?"
She looked at me carefully.
"Your pregnancy records. Your examination results. Everything."
My eyes filled with tears.
Not because I was weak.
Because I was angry.
"My baby was alive."
Sarah didn't answer immediately.
That silence told me more than words could.
I grabbed her wrist.
"Was my baby alive when I came here?"
The nurse looked away.
And that was the moment I knew.
She knew something.
Something terrible.
"Sarah."
Her eyes returned to mine.
"Tell me the truth."
She took a shaky breath.
"I don't know everything."
"But you know enough."
She looked down.
"I know the first ultrasound showed a heartbeat."
The hallway suddenly felt smaller.
My hand covered my mouth.
A heartbeat.
My baby's heartbeat.
The thing they told me didn't exist.
The thing they told me was already gone.
It was there.
"I heard it," Sarah whispered.
"Before Dr. Cole changed the file."
My entire body went numb.
I wanted to cry.
I wanted to scream.
But my mind was moving too fast.
"Why?"
Sarah looked terrified.
"Because Dr. Cole isn't doing this alone."
A terrible silence followed.
"Who is he working with?"
She didn't answer.
Instead, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper.
She placed it under my blanket.
"Keep this hidden."
I looked at it.
A handwritten note.
Three words.
Room 814.
"What is this?"
Sarah looked toward the hallway.
"Someone else tried to warn me."
"Who?"
Before she could answer, footsteps approached.
Fast.
Heavy.
Sarah immediately stepped away.
Her expression changed.
Professional.
Calm.
Like nothing had happened.
A doctor appeared at the end of the hallway.
Dr. Adrian Cole.
My body immediately went still.
He walked toward us with a calm smile.
The same smile he had given me when he told me my baby was gone.
"How is our patient?"
Sarah answered quickly.
"Stable."
Dr. Cole looked at me.
Even though my eyes were closed.
Even though I was pretending.
I could feel him watching.
"Good."
He moved closer.
Then he leaned toward me.
Too close.
My muscles tightened.
"I hope you're resting well, Emma."
My heart stopped.
There was something different in his voice.
A warning.
Not concern.
Fear.
He knew.
Maybe not everything.
But enough.
He walked away after a few seconds.
Sarah waited until he disappeared.
Then she whispered:
"You need to leave."
I looked at her.
"Leave?"
"You can't stay here."
"Why?"
Her eyes filled with fear.
"Because if he thinks you know, you won't get another chance."
Those words stayed with me.
I wanted to ask a hundred questions.
But one mattered most.
"Where is my baby?"
Sarah looked down.
And for the first time, I saw tears in her eyes.
"I don't know."
That answer hurt more than anything.
Not knowing was worse than bad news.
Because bad news had an ending.
This didn't.
This was a nightmare that was still happening.
I looked at the paper hidden under my blanket.
Room 814.
A place.
A clue.
A chance.
"What happened in Room 814?"
Sarah hesitated.
Then she whispered:
"Three months ago, another mother asked the same question."
My blood went cold.
"What mother?"
Sarah looked around.
Then she said something that made my entire body freeze.
"Her baby was also declared dead."
The hallway felt silent.
"Did she find the truth?"
Sarah's face became pale.
"No."
"Why?"
She looked at me.
"Because she disappeared before she could tell anyone."
I felt a chill move through me.
The baby.
The records.
The transfer.
The missing mother.
None of it was random.
Someone had built a system.
A system where people disappeared.
And my baby was now part of it.
I looked down at my stomach.
The place where I had felt tiny movements.
The place where I had whispered bedtime songs.
The place where I had promised my child that I would protect them.
I had failed once.
I would not fail again.
I slowly pushed myself up.
The pain was still there.
My body was weak.
But something stronger had replaced the fear.
Determination.
"I need to get to Room 814."
Sarah grabbed my arm.
"No."
"I have to."
"You don't understand."
"Then make me understand."
She looked at me for several seconds.
Then she whispered:
"Room 814 isn't a patient room anymore."
"What is it?"
Her lips trembled.
"It's where they keep the files."
My breathing stopped.
"The files?"
"Every mother."
"Every baby."
"Every case they wanted erased."
A cold feeling moved through my chest.
"Why haven't you reported this?"
Sarah looked at the floor.
Because she didn't need to answer.
I already understood.
She was afraid.
Everyone here was afraid.
The hospital wasn't just a place where people were treated.
It was a place where secrets were buried.
A loud sound suddenly came from the hallway.
A phone ringing.
Sarah looked at her pocket.
Her face changed.
She looked terrified.
"Who is it?"
She didn't answer.
The phone continued ringing.
Then she slowly pulled it out.
I saw the screen.
No name.
No number.
Just one word.
UNKNOWN.
Sarah answered.
She didn't speak.
She only listened.
Then all color disappeared from her face.
"What happened?"
She slowly lowered the phone.
Her hands were shaking.
"What did they say?"
She looked directly at me.
And whispered:
"They know you found the document."
My heart dropped.
"Who knows?"
Sarah stepped backward.
"They're coming."
The hallway lights flickered.
A security door at the end of the corridor unlocked.
Slowly.
Quietly.
Sarah stared toward it.
Then she whispered the name of the person walking toward us...
May you like
"Emma..."
The door opened.
