CHAPTER 23
THE CHILD IN THE HOSPITAL RECORD
Elena returned to Saint Matthew's Hospital that afternoon.
She had not worked there in years.
Yet the moment she stepped inside, memories returned.
The maternity wing had been renovated.
The old nurses' station was gone.
The walls had been repainted.
But the smell remained.
Antiseptic.
Coffee.
And the strange warmth of a place where people entered frightened and left carrying entire futures in their arms.
Dr. Samuel Rainer was waiting in a private conference room.
Nathaniel sat beside Elena.
"What do you know?" Nathaniel asked.
The doctor folded his hands.
"Caroline came to me three weeks before the accident."
"About June?"
"About the hospital's newborn records."
Elena felt her stomach tighten.
"Why?"
"She had discovered that a child had been listed as deceased."
Nathaniel stared.
"Which child?"
Dr. Rainer looked at Elena.
"June."
The room went silent.
Nathaniel rose.
"That's impossible."
"I know."
"My daughter died in that crash."
"Yes."
"Then why would a hospital record say otherwise?"
Dr. Rainer's voice became quieter.
"Because the record was altered."
Elena's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
"Altered to say what?"
The doctor looked at her.
"That June Whitfield had died shortly after birth."
Nathaniel stopped breathing.
Elena whispered, "But she survived."
"According to the original record, yes."
Nathaniel turned toward the doctor.
"Where is the original?"
"Missing."
"Who altered the file?"
"I don't know."
"Then why did Caroline think Lily was involved?"
Dr. Rainer hesitated.
"Because the nurse who first discovered the discrepancy was you."
Elena's face drained of color.
"I don't remember that."
"You were exhausted. You had worked a double shift."
"Tell me what happened."
Dr. Rainer looked down.
"That night, you told Caroline that the newborn listed under the name June Whitfield had a different identification bracelet than the one attached to the official file."
Nathaniel slowly turned toward Elena.
"You saw my daughter."
"I don't remember."
"You held her."
Elena pressed her fingers to her temple.
Then suddenly—
A flash.
A newborn.
A bracelet.
A nurse shouting.
And a woman standing near the nursery door.
A woman wearing a dark green coat.
Elena opened her eyes.
"I remember."
Nathaniel leaned toward her.
"What?"
"There was another woman."
"Who?"
May you like
Elena whispered:
"Victoria Hale."
