Chapter 4 - Simone’s Secret
Simone had been discharged the previous evening.
At least that was what Leah had been told.
Then Leah received a message from an unknown number.
DON’T TRUST RUSK.
A second message followed.
AND DON’T LET THEM SEPARATE YOU FROM YOUR BABY.
Leah stared at the screen.
WHO IS THIS?
The answer arrived immediately.
SIMONE.
Leah’s hands trembled.
HOW DID YOU GET MY NUMBER?
YOUR HUSBAND LEFT YOUR ADMISSION FORM ON THE TABLE.
Then another message.
SORRY.
Leah almost laughed.
Instead she typed.
WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
The typing bubble appeared.
Then disappeared.
Then returned.
Finally Simone answered.
I HEARD DOREEN OFFER RUSK MONEY.
Leah stopped breathing.
WHEN?
TWO DAYS AGO.
FOR WHAT?
A long pause.
Simone answered.
I DON’T KNOW.
BUT RUSK SAID, “IF THE EVALUATION SUPPORTS IT, I CAN JUSTIFY SEVENTY-TWO HOURS.”
Leah looked toward Owen sleeping beside her.
A psychiatric hold.
Seventy-two hours.
Three days without her baby.
Leah immediately forwarded screenshots to a private email account Nathan didn’t know existed.
Then she photographed every page of her medical chart she could access through the portal.
At 2:10 p.m., Mae entered.
“Can you walk?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Mae helped Leah stand.
“We’re going to the lactation room.”
There was something deliberate in her voice.
Leah understood.
The lactation room was empty.
Mae closed the door.
“I checked your chart.”
Leah waited.
Mae’s face was grim.
“There are notes in it that I didn’t write.”
Leah’s stomach dropped.
“What notes?”
“One says you refused to allow staff to examine Owen.”
“I never refused.”
“I know.”
“Another says you threatened to leave the hospital against medical advice.”
“I never said that.”
“I know.”
Leah stared at her.
“Who wrote them?”
“They were entered under nursing credentials.”
“Whose?”
Mae hesitated.
“Mine.”
Leah felt sick.
“Someone used your account?”
“That’s what I’m trying to determine.”
Mae reached into her pocket.
She removed a folded piece of paper.
“Memorize this number.”
“What is it?”
“Patient advocacy.”
Mae’s eyes hardened.
“And this one is an attorney I trust.”
Leah looked at her.
“Why are you helping me?”
For the first time, Mae looked away.
“Because nineteen years ago, I watched something similar happen to my sister.”
Leah said nothing.
Mae swallowed.
“She had postpartum depression.”
“She needed treatment.”
“But my brother-in-law’s family used it to take her daughter.”
“They told everyone she was dangerous.”
“They controlled the doctors.”
“They controlled the money.”
“And by the time my sister was healthy enough to fight, her daughter had been taught to fear her.”
Mae looked directly at Leah.
“I promised myself I would never watch that happen again.”
Then someone tried the door.
Mae immediately stepped away.
A man’s voice came from outside.
“Leah?”
Nathan.
May you like
Mae’s face changed.
“Don’t tell him anything.”
