Chapter 2 - A Prescription That Did Not Exist
Daniel came home just after seven that evening.
He found Emily sitting at the kitchen table with Vivian’s pharmacy card in front of her. Noah slept in a portable crib near the window.
Daniel placed his keys on the counter.
“You look serious.”
“Your mother registered a baby monitor under her own email.”
Daniel stopped unbuttoning his uniform shirt.
“She said the old one was unreliable.”
“She also has a pharmacy appointment for Noah.”
Emily slid a photograph of the card across the table. She had taken the picture before Vivian retrieved it.
Daniel studied the screen.
“Maybe she ordered his vitamins.”
“She doesn’t have authority to order anything for him.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
Daniel lifted his eyes.
The question sat between them.
Emily immediately regretted the sharpness of her tone, but she was too tired to soften it.
Daniel sat across from her.
“My mother oversteps. I’ve told her that.”
“You tell her after she does something. Then you give her another key, another password, another chance.”
“She helped us when Noah was born.”
“She also told your aunt that I was too anxious to be left alone with him.”
Daniel exhaled.
“She shouldn’t have said that.”
“She told your cousin I was keeping Noah away from the Hart family. She told the pediatrician I was not sleeping enough to make decisions.”
“I was there. The pediatrician ignored her.”
“That isn’t the point.”
Noah made a small sound in the crib. Both parents turned instinctively.
Daniel crossed the room and rested his hand on the baby’s chest until his breathing settled.
When he returned, his voice was lower.
“I’ll speak to her.”
“Take back the key.”
Daniel hesitated.
Emily noticed.
“She is your mother,” he said. “She lives ten minutes away. What happens if we need her?”
“I need you to understand that I don’t feel safe with her walking into this house.”
Daniel looked toward the nursery stairs.
“Fine. I’ll ask for the key.”
“And remove her access from the monitor.”
“I’ll do it tonight.”
Emily wanted to believe him.
Her phone rang before she could answer.
Hillcrest Family Pharmacy appeared on the screen.
Emily and Daniel exchanged a look.
She activated the call on speaker.
“Mrs. Hart?” a woman asked. “This is Megan from Hillcrest Pharmacy. We’re confirming tomorrow’s consultation regarding Noah Hart.”
Emily’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“What consultation?”
There was a pause.
“The new prescription.”
“There is no new prescription.”
Another pause, longer this time.
“I’m sorry. I may have opened the wrong profile.”
“What medication is listed?”
“I’m not authorized to discuss details until the identity verification is completed.”
“I’m his mother.”
“I understand. Could you confirm the date of birth?”
Emily did.
The pharmacy employee became very quiet.
“Mrs. Hart, the person who scheduled the consultation presented documentation stating that she was an authorized guardian.”
Daniel leaned toward the phone.
“Who presented it?”
“I cannot release that information by telephone.”
“Was it Vivian Hart?”
“I’m sorry, sir. You will need to visit the pharmacy.”
Emily stood.
“We’re coming now.”
“The consultation has been canceled.”
“By whom?”
The employee lowered her voice.
“It was canceled six minutes ago through the online account.”
Daniel reached for his keys.
The pharmacy was twenty minutes away, but by the time they arrived, the doors were locked. A handwritten sign announced an unexpected system outage.
Emily pressed her face close to the glass.
Inside, a young employee moved behind the counter.
Emily knocked.
The employee looked up, recognized her, and immediately disappeared through a back door.
Daniel tried calling the number again.
The automated system said the pharmacy was closed.
As they returned to the car, Emily noticed a dark sedan parked across the street.
A woman sat in the driver’s seat.
The streetlight reflected across the windshield, hiding her face.
Then the sedan pulled away.
Daniel watched it disappear.
“Did that look like my mother’s car?”
“No,” Emily said.
She had recognized the silver charm hanging from the rearview mirror.
May you like
It belonged to Daniel’s older sister.
Claire.
