Chapter 6 - The Night at the HospitalHannah reached the elevator and pressed the emergency button.
Nothing happened.
The figure behind her wore hospital scrubs and a surgical mask.
At first glance, he could have been any employee finishing a late shift.
But he was not carrying identification.
Hannah moved around a parked car.
“Stay away from me.”
The man raised both hands.
“Ms. Vale, I’m here to help.”
“You don’t know my name.”
He stopped.
That mistake gave Hannah the second she needed.
She threw her phone beneath the nearest car and ran toward the vehicle exit.
The man followed.
Hannah reached the ramp leading to the street, but dizziness suddenly swept over her.
Earlier that afternoon, a gift basket had arrived at her office containing tea, fruit and prenatal supplements supposedly sent by the clinic.
The clinic had sent nothing.
Daniel’s employee had replaced one of Hannah’s prescribed supplements with a substance designed to cause a dangerous medical reaction.
Daniel expected her to collapse in the garage, where the hired man would remove her phone and make the incident appear natural.
But Hannah had taken only part of the dose.
She remained conscious long enough to reach the hospital entrance.
A security guard saw her stumble through the doors.
“Help,” Hannah whispered. “My baby.”
She collapsed before she could say anything else.
Hospital staff rushed her to the emergency department.
The masked man disappeared into the city.
Daniel received confirmation that Hannah had been admitted, but he did not know whether she had spoken to anyone.
He ordered an employee inside the hospital to watch her condition.
Meanwhile, Ryan arrived at Hannah’s office and learned she had left for St. Catherine’s.
He called Jack repeatedly.
Jack was attending a private dinner with investors. His phone had been left outside the room.
Daniel had arranged the dinner.
By the time Jack saw Ryan’s missed calls, Hannah had been transferred to intensive care.
“Where is she?” Jack demanded when Ryan answered.
“St. Catherine’s Hospital.”
Jack’s face went pale.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. But you need to get here.”
Jack left the dinner without explanation.
Daniel followed him into the corridor.
“What is it?”
“Hannah is in intensive care.”
Daniel performed shock perfectly.
“Is she alive?”
Jack turned.
The wording struck him.
Most people would have asked whether she was all right.
Daniel had asked whether she was alive.
Jack said nothing.
He entered the elevator and called his driver.
Daniel watched the doors close.
Then he removed a second phone from his pocket and sent one message.
She reached the hospital. Finish it before Jack gets there.
The message was meant for the employee monitoring Hannah.
Instead, it went to Hannah’s phone.
Daniel had selected the wrong conversation.
Beneath the parked car, Hannah’s shattered phone lit up.
A security camera recorded the brief flash.
Ryan found it seventeen minutes later.
By then, Jack had reached the ICU.
He rushed through the door and saw Hannah lying unconscious beneath the blue blanket.
For several seconds, he did not notice anything except her face.
Then the doctor adjusted the blanket.
Jack saw her pregnant belly.
“The baby…” he whispered. “How many weeks?”
The doctor checked the monitor.
“Sixteen weeks. Both mother and baby are in danger.”
Jack slowly approached the bed.
Every moment of the divorce returned to him.
Hannah removing her ring.
Hannah asking for the truth.
Hannah standing outside the bookstore with children’s books in her arms.
He had believed he was keeping her safe.
Instead, he had abandoned her during the most frightening months of her life.
Jack took her hand.
“I left her because I thought it would protect her,” he said.
The door opened.
May you like
Ryan entered carrying the shattered phone.
And Jack’s entire world changed.
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