Chapter 5 - The Woman Who Knew My Baby Was Alive
The woman in the doorway didn't move.
Neither did we.
For a few seconds, the entire room felt frozen.
Her hand was still holding my hospital bracelet.
The same bracelet that had been attached to my wrist when I entered the emergency room.
The same bracelet that carried my name.
But there was something different.
Something impossible.
There was another bracelet tied to it.
A smaller one.
A newborn bracelet.
My hands started shaking.
I knew that hospital bracelet.
I had seen thousands of pictures of newborn bracelets before.
Every mother saw them.
The tiny plastic band placed around a baby's wrist after birth.
The proof that your child existed.
The proof that your child belonged to you.
And now one was hanging from my bracelet.
"Where did you get that?"
My voice barely came out.
The woman looked at Sarah.
Then at me.
"I was hoping you would ask that question."
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
Like she had been waiting for this moment.
Sarah stepped in front of me.
"Who are you?"
The woman looked at her.
"My name is Dr. Evelyn Hart."
Sarah's face changed.
Not confusion.
Recognition.
"You were..."
She stopped.
The woman nodded.
"Yes."
I looked between them.
"What does that mean?"
Neither answered.
That scared me more than anything.
Because everyone in this hospital seemed to know pieces of the truth except me.
The woman walked inside and closed the door behind her.
"We don't have much time."
I stared at her.
"You need to explain."
She looked down at the newborn bracelet.
Then she placed it on the table.
"I was the doctor who examined your baby before Dr. Cole changed the records."
My heart stopped.
"You were there?"
She nodded.
"I saw the heartbeat."
The room became silent.
Again.
The same words.
The same confirmation.
My baby was alive.
"Then why did everyone tell me my baby was gone?"
Dr. Hart looked away.
"Because someone decided your baby could not be allowed to exist on paper."
My stomach tightened.
"Someone?"
She looked directly at me.
"The people who control the transfers."
I remembered the file.
Transfer 047.
The photographs.
The names.
The missing mothers.
"What are these transfers?"
Dr. Hart hesitated.
And that hesitation told me the answer was worse than I imagined.
"Babies are being moved through fake medical records."
Sarah whispered:
"Oh my God."
I looked at her.
"You knew?"
She shook her head quickly.
"No. Not everything."
Dr. Hart walked toward the cabinet.
She removed another folder.
"This is why I came back."
She placed it in front of me.
The folder had no name.
Only a date.
My admission date.
I opened it.
Inside were medical notes.
But they weren't from my hospital visit.
They were from before.
Months before.
Someone had been tracking my pregnancy.
Appointments.
Ultrasounds.
Medical history.
Everything.
I looked up.
"They were watching me."
Dr. Hart nodded.
"Not just you."
She opened another page.
A list.
More names.
More women.
Some had been crossed out.
Some had notes beside them.
My eyes moved down the page.
Then stopped.
Emily Carter.
I remembered the recording.
The missing mother.
The woman whose baby had been taken.
Next to her name was a note.
Recovered evidence. Subject terminated.
My breathing stopped.
"Subject terminated?"
Sarah covered her mouth.
Dr. Hart's face became serious.
"They wanted everyone to believe Emily disappeared."
"But she didn't."
"No."
Dr. Hart looked at the photograph from the cabinet.
"She was trying to expose them."
A cold feeling moved through me.
"Where is she?"
Dr. Hart didn't answer immediately.
Then she said:
"She trusted the wrong person."
The words made me think of Dr. Cole.
But before I could ask, a sound came from outside.
Footsteps.
Multiple people.
Dr. Hart immediately turned off the room light.
"Someone is coming."
Sarah looked terrified.
"How did they find us?"
Dr. Hart looked at the open folder.
"They didn't find us."
She looked at me.
"They found what you were looking for."
My heart sank.
The door handle moved.
Again.
But this time there was no hesitation.
Someone was forcing it open.
Dr. Hart grabbed my hand.
"You need to listen carefully."
I looked at her.
"If we don't get you out of here, they will move your baby before anyone can find him."
My entire body froze.
"Him?"
Dr. Hart nodded.
"Your baby is a boy."
Tears filled my eyes instantly.
A son.
My son.
The child I had already been forced to mourn.
The child they told me I had lost.
He was alive.
"Where is he?"
Dr. Hart reached into her coat and pulled out a small device.
A flash drive.
"He is not in this hospital anymore."
My heart shattered.
"What?"
"They moved him before you woke up."
The door shook.
Someone outside was trying to open it.
Sarah looked toward the door.
"We need to leave now."
Dr. Hart grabbed the flash drive.
"This contains everything."
I looked at it.
"Why didn't you release it?"
Her expression changed.
"Because the person who helped me hide it..."
She stopped.
A terrible realization crossed her face.
"was someone I trusted."
The door cracked open slightly.
A man's voice came from outside.
"Dr. Hart."
Everyone froze.
Because we knew that voice.
Dr. Adrian Cole.
"I know you're inside."
Dr. Hart whispered:
"He followed me."
Sarah looked at me.
"What do we do?"
Dr. Hart looked toward the hidden exit behind the shelves.
"There is another way out."
She moved quickly.
But before we reached the door, I saw something on the table.
A document.
One page that had fallen from the folder.
I picked it up.
At the top was a title.
Birth Transfer Authorization.
Below it was my name.
Emma Wilson.
And underneath my name was a signature.
I recognized it immediately.
My hand went cold.
Because the person who approved the transfer was not Dr. Cole.
Not the stranger.
Not anyone from the hospital.
It was someone who had been beside me every single day.
Someone I trusted more than anyone.
The hidden door opened.
Dr. Hart looked back at me.
"Emma..."
I couldn't move.
I was staring at the signature.
The name that destroyed everything I believed.
May you like
Then the main door finally broke open.
And the person standing behind Dr. Cole called out my husband's name...
