Chapter 6 - The Hospital File
After the doctor revealed that Vincent’s name had been deliberately removed, Brooke attempted to leave the emergency room.
Two hospital security officers blocked the doorway.
Vincent stood between her and Emma’s bed, still holding the altered form.
“You forged this.”
Brooke shook her head.
“Emma signed it.”
“She could barely believe my name was gone,” Lena said from across the room. “She asked us to call him.”
Brooke turned toward Vincent.
“She is manipulating you. She disappeared for months and suddenly wants you here because she needs something.”
Vincent’s voice became dangerously quiet.
“She was carrying my child.”
“You don’t know that.”
Emma moved weakly beneath the blanket.
Vincent looked at her, ashamed that Brooke’s words still carried even a trace of influence.
The doctor interrupted.
“Arguments need to happen outside. Our priority is the patient and infant.”
A nurse prepared to transfer Samuel to the neonatal intensive care unit.
Vincent stepped aside, watching the tiny child being moved with extraordinary care.
“Can I go with him?” he asked.
The nurse glanced at Emma.
Emma’s eyes met Vincent’s.
Though she was weak, the hurt in her expression was clear.
After several seconds, she gave a small nod.
Vincent followed the nurse through the corridor.
Brooke remained with security while hospital administrators examined the altered file.
Lena approached Emma’s bed.
“He came.”
Emma closed her eyes.
“Too late.”
“He didn’t know.”
“He believed her.”
“Yes,” Lena said gently. “He did.”
Emma’s tears slipped silently toward her hair.
In the neonatal unit, Vincent stood beside Samuel’s incubator.
The baby was smaller than Vincent had imagined a newborn could be. His hands were curled near his chest, and his dark hair lay softly against his head.
A nurse explained that Samuel needed careful monitoring but had responded well after delivery.
Vincent placed his palm against the transparent wall.
“I didn’t know about you,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
The words felt inadequate.
He had failed Emma before Samuel was even born.
When Vincent returned to the emergency department, two police officers were speaking with hospital administrators.
Brooke sat in a chair, her arms crossed.
“This is ridiculous,” she said. “It was a simple administrative correction.”
An officer held up the form.
“Using another person’s signature to alter medical records is not an administrative correction.”
Brooke looked toward Vincent.
“You’re going to let them treat me like a criminal after everything I did for you?”
Vincent stared at her.
“What exactly did you do for me?”
Her expression flickered.
He stepped closer.
“Did you send the messages from my phone?”
Brooke said nothing.
“Did you arrange the photographs of Emma and Daniel?”
“You were miserable before she left,” Brooke replied. “I gave you the truth you were refusing to see.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“She was never right for you.”
Vincent finally understood.
The false concern. The perfectly timed crises. The missing calls. The recording Emma had mentioned in one of the messages Vincent recovered from an old cloud backup.
Brooke had not simply taken advantage of their separation.
She had designed it.
His face hardened.
“Give the officers your phone.”
Brooke laughed nervously.
“You can’t order me to do that.”
“No,” Vincent said. “But they can obtain a warrant.”
Brooke looked toward the police.
For the first time, she realized Vincent would not protect her.
She stood abruptly.
“You think Emma will forgive you because you play the devoted father for one night?”
Vincent’s jaw tightened.
“No. I don’t expect her to forgive me.”
May you like
He looked toward Emma’s room.
“But I will spend the rest of my life making sure you never hurt her again.”
