Chapter 9 — The Doctor Found Something Else
Chapter 9 — The Doctor Found Something Else
The doctor didn't tell me immediately.
That was the first thing I noticed.
When Dr. Bennett entered my hospital room the following morning, she was carrying my chart with both hands.
She smiled at me.
But it wasn't her usual smile.
It was careful.
Measured.
The kind of expression doctors wore when they were trying to decide how much truth a patient could handle at once.
Daniel stood beside the window.
I was sitting upright in bed.
My daughter had been moving all morning.
Small kicks.
Little reminders that, despite everything, she was still fighting.
Dr. Bennett looked at my stomach.
Then at me.
“Emily, how are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“That's not entirely true.”
“I mean physically.”
“That I believe.”
She pulled a chair closer.
“I need to talk to you about something we found during the additional tests.”
My heart tightened.
“Is my baby okay?”
Dr. Bennett didn't answer immediately.
Daniel stepped closer.
“Doctor?”
“She appears stable.”
I exhaled.
“Then what's wrong?”
Dr. Bennett opened the chart.
“There was something unusual in your bloodwork.”
My stomach dropped.
“What?”
“A substance.”
“What kind?”
“We're still identifying it.”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Was she poisoned?”
“We don't know.”
“But something was found?”
“Yes.”
I stared at the doctor.
“How much?”
“Very small.”
“Could it hurt my baby?”
“It could potentially cause complications.”
My hands moved instinctively over my stomach.
“What kind?”
“Depending on what it is, placental problems, reduced blood flow, premature contractions.”
I felt sick.
“Could someone have given it to me?”
Dr. Bennett looked at Detective Harris.
She had entered the room without me noticing.
“Yes,” the doctor said carefully.
“It is possible.”
Silence.
Daniel's jaw tightened.
“Can you tell us what it is?”
“Not yet.”
She closed the chart.
“But there is something else.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
She looked directly at me.
“The substance wasn't in your blood when you were admitted.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“It appeared in a later sample.”
Daniel turned toward her.
“When?”
“Two days after the attack.”
I looked at Detective Harris.
“Someone gave it to me here?”
“We don't know.”
Dr. Bennett shook her head.
“I'm not saying that.”
“But you just said it wasn't there when I arrived.”
“Yes.”
“And it appeared later.”
“Yes.”
“Then someone must have introduced it.”
Dr. Bennett hesitated.
“Or there was an error.”
“No.”
My voice was quiet.
“Not this time.”
The hospital suddenly felt different.
Every hallway looked unfamiliar.
Every nurse seemed like a stranger.
Every door made me wonder who could have entered.
Daniel took my hand.
“We'll find out.”
Detective Harris nodded.
“We already started.”
She pulled out a small notebook.
“Who has had access to your room?”
A nurse entered with a list.
“Primary nurses, physicians, housekeeping, security…”
“Visitors?”
“Your husband.”
“Your mother?”
“Yes.”
“Your sister?”
“No.”
“Ethan?”
“No.”
“Margaret?”
“Yes.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Anyone else?”
The nurse hesitated.
“There was a gentleman.”
“Who?”
“He said he was a family friend.”
“What was his name?”
She checked the record.
“Adrian Cole.”
Daniel's hand tightened around mine.
“When was he here?”
“Yesterday evening.”
My heart began pounding.
“Did you let him into my room?”
“No.”
“Then where did he go?”
The nurse looked uncomfortable.
“He spoke with someone at the nurses' station.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
Detective Harris looked at me.
“Did Adrian know you were here?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“My mother.”
I felt a chill.
Detective Harris left immediately.
Daniel stayed beside me.
Dr. Bennett continued examining my chart.
Then she said something that made my blood run cold.
“Emily, there is another unusual finding.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“The placenta.”
“What about it?”
“There are small areas of abnormal tissue.”
“Is that dangerous?”
“Potentially.”
“Could it be caused by the substance?”
“We don't know.”
“Then what caused it?”
Dr. Bennett looked at the ultrasound.
“That's what concerns me.”
She enlarged the image.
“There are signs that your placenta has been under stress longer than we originally thought.”
I frowned.
“How long?”
“Possibly weeks.”
I stared at her.
“Weeks?”
“Yes.”
“Before the attack?”
“Yes.”
My heart began racing.
“So this didn't start when Rachel kicked me.”
“No.”
“It started before.”
Dr. Bennett nodded.
“Possibly.”
Daniel looked at Detective Harris.
“If someone was poisoning her…”
“We're investigating.”
I looked at the doctor.
“Could the substance have been administered gradually?”
“Yes.”
My stomach turned.
“Through food?”
“Potentially.”
“Medication?”
“Possibly.”
“Drinks?”
“Yes.”
I remembered every family gathering.
Every dinner.
Every glass of water.
Every cup of tea.
Then I remembered something else.
My mother's insistence that I drink the herbal tea she had brought to the hospital.
I froze.
“Mom.”
Daniel looked at me.
“What?”
“My mother brought me tea.”
“When?”
“Yesterday.”
“Did you drink it?”
“I had a few sips.”
Detective Harris immediately stood.
“Where is it?”
“I don't know.”
The nurse spoke.
“I threw it away.”
Detective Harris looked at her.
“Which bin?”
“The one outside.”
Two officers left.
An hour later, they returned with the cup.
It was sealed in evidence packaging.
Detective Harris placed it on the table.
“We'll test it.”
I stared at the cup.
My mother's favorite tea.
The same tea she had given me since childhood.
I suddenly felt sick.
“She wouldn't.”
Daniel didn't answer.
Detective Harris looked at me.
“Would she?”
I shook my head.
“I don't know anymore.”
The test results came back that evening.
The tea contained nothing dangerous.
I felt relief.
Then confusion.
“If it wasn't the tea…”
Detective Harris nodded.
“That's what we're trying to determine.”
Dr. Bennett entered again.
She looked serious.
“We identified the substance.”
Everyone turned toward her.
“What is it?”
She gave us the name.
I didn't recognize it.
“What does it do?”
“In high doses, it can be dangerous.”
“And in small doses?”
“Repeated exposure can cause complications.”
Daniel looked furious.
“How long would someone have to administer it?”
“Possibly several weeks.”
I felt cold.
“Could it cause the placental problems?”
“Yes.”
“Could it cause a miscarriage?”
“In sufficient exposure.”
The room went silent.
My daughter kicked.
I put both hands over my stomach.
“She was being poisoned.”
Dr. Bennett didn't correct me.
She simply said:
“We need to monitor you very closely.”
That night, I couldn't sleep.
Daniel sat beside my bed.
I stared at the ceiling.
“Do you remember when my symptoms started?”
He thought.
“About a month ago.”
“Headaches.”
“Yes.”
“Nausea.”
“Yes.”
“Dizziness.”
“Yes.”
“I thought it was pregnancy.”
“So did I.”
I closed my eyes.
“Someone wanted me to think that.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Maybe.”
“No.”
I turned toward him.
“They wanted me to think I was getting sick naturally.”
He nodded slowly.
“That would make sense.”
“Then when the baby was born…”
“You'd be blamed for the complications.”
I whispered:
“Or made to look unstable.”
The same plan.
The same story.
The same person.
At two in the morning, Detective Harris called.
“We found something.”
“What?”
“Hospital security footage.”
My heart tightened.
“Adrian?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
She paused.
“Your mother.”
I sat upright.
“What did she do?”
“She entered the hospital basement.”
“Why?”
“We don't know.”
“Can you show me?”
“Yes.”
The video was sent to my phone.
I watched.
My mother walked through a restricted corridor.
She carried a small bag.
She entered a storage room.
Then another person appeared.
I couldn't see the face.
But I recognized the coat.
The same dark coat from the photograph.
My blood ran cold.
The stranger took the bag.
My mother said something.
The audio was too faint.
Detective Harris enhanced it.
My mother's voice became clear.
“I've done what you asked.”
The stranger replied:
“Not enough.”
“What else do you want?”
“The doctor.”
My mother froze.
“No.”
“The doctor knows.”
“She's protected.”
“Then make her unprotected.”
My blood ran cold.
The video ended.
I stared at Detective Harris.
“They were targeting Dr. Bennett.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she found something.”
“What?”
“We don't know yet.”
Dr. Bennett arrived at my room twenty minutes later.
She looked frightened.
“What did you find?”
She shut the door.
Then checked the hallway.
“I found something in your medical history.”
“What?”
“Your prenatal records.”
I frowned.
“What's wrong with them?”
“Someone altered them.”
My heart stopped.
“How?”
“Your original bloodwork showed something.”
“What?”
“Your hormone levels were unusual.”
“Because of the pregnancy?”
“No.”
She lowered her voice.
“They indicated you may have been exposed to something before you even knew you were pregnant.”
I stared at her.
“How long?”
“Possibly months.”
I felt sick.
“Before my pregnancy?”
“Yes.”
“Then how could it affect my baby?”
“It may not have.”
“May not?”
“We don't know.”
She opened another file.
“But there is something else.”
“What?”
“Your pregnancy dates may have been altered.”
I didn't understand.
“My dates?”
“Your original records indicate you conceived earlier than you were told.”
I stared.
“That's impossible.”
Dr. Bennett shook her head.
“Your first ultrasound was changed.”
“Changed by whom?”
“I don't know.”
“Why?”
She looked at me.
“To make the pregnancy appear younger.”
My heart stopped.
“Why would anyone do that?”
“So the trust deadline would be different.”
Daniel stood.
“What?”
Dr. Bennett explained.
“If the pregnancy was deliberately dated later, then the people controlling the trust could manipulate when the twenty-eight-week deadline occurred.”
I felt dizzy.
“The deadline…”
“Could be closer than you think.”
I looked at my stomach.
“How far along am I really?”
Dr. Bennett hesitated.
“Approximately thirty weeks.”
The room went silent.
Thirty.
Not twenty-six.
Not twenty-seven.
Thirty weeks.
The trust should already be permanent.
I looked at Detective Harris.
“Then why haven't they stopped?”
She stared at me.
“Because they may not know.”
My heart pounded.
“Or…”
She finished the thought.
“They do.”
That night, someone tried to enter my room.
The security guard stopped him.
The man ran.
But he dropped something.
A keycard.
I recognized the name printed on it.
Adrian Cole.
Detective Harris examined it.
“It's fake.”
“Then who used it?”
“We'll find out.”
Daniel looked at me.
“Someone knows the trust deadline.”
I nodded.
“And someone knows my pregnancy was misdated.”
Then my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
No voice.
Only breathing.
Then a whisper.
“You're thirty weeks.”
My blood froze.
“Who is this?”
“You were never supposed to make it this far.”
The line went dead.
Daniel stared at me.
Detective Harris reached for the phone.
Then a second message appeared.
Ask Dr. Bennett who changed your first ultrasound.
I looked at the doctor.
She went pale.
“I know who did it.”
“Who?”
She closed her eyes.
“Your mother.”
My heart shattered.
“Mom?”
Dr. Bennett nodded.
“She came to my office months ago.”
“Why?”
“She told me your father had ordered her to change the records.”
I stared at her.
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
Dr. Bennett shook her head.
“That's what I thought.”
“Then why did you do it?”
She looked at me.
“Because your father had already died.”
Silence.
My blood turned cold.
“My father was dead when you changed my pregnancy dates?”
“Yes.”
“Then who gave you the order?”
Dr. Bennett's eyes filled with fear.
“I don't know.”
I stared at her.
“You have to.”
She whispered:
“The person who came to my office used your father's voice.”
My heart stopped.
“Used his voice?”
“Yes.”
“And his signature.”
I looked at Daniel.
Someone had been impersonating my father.
Someone had been manipulating my medical records.
Someone had been poisoning me.
Someone had been controlling my family.
And now I understood why my father had left the recording.
The enemy wasn't simply trying to steal the trust.
They were trying to rewrite reality itself.
Then Dr. Bennett said one final thing.
“The person who came to my office knew something only your father could have known.”
“What?”
She looked at me.
“The exact location of the second trust.”
I felt my stomach tighten.
“Where?”
She whispered:
“Inside the maternity hospital.”
My blood ran cold.
Because if the second trust was hidden inside the hospital...
someone had been searching for it while I was lying here.
May you like
And they weren't looking for money.
They were looking for whatever my father had hidden with it.
