Chapter 1 - The Word That Broke the Silence)
Luke twisted hard enough that one of the officers nearly lost his grip.
“She’s confused,” he snapped. “She’s medicated. Ask the nurse how much morphine she’s had.”
Nurse Sarah stepped between Luke and Caroline’s bed.
“She hasn’t had morphine.”
Luke looked at her.
Sarah did not move.
“She refused anything stronger than acetaminophen because she was worried about the baby.”
The second officer tightened Luke’s handcuffs.
“Sir, you need to stop talking.”
Luke ignored him.
He stared at Caroline instead.
It was the stare she knew.
The warning stare.
The one that meant later.
Later there would be consequences.
Later, when nobody was watching.
But there would be no later tonight.
Caroline looked at the handcuffs.
Then at Dr. Carter.
“What did you mean?”
Dr. Carter’s expression softened.
“We’ll talk once he’s gone.”
“No.”
Caroline surprised herself with the strength in her voice.
Even Luke stopped moving.
“No more waiting until he leaves the room. No more whispering when I’m sleeping. No more deciding what I’m allowed to know.”
Her heartbeat accelerated on the monitor beside her bed.
Sarah touched her shoulder carefully.
“Caroline, your blood pressure.”
“I want the truth.”
Luke laughed.
It was quiet.
Almost affectionate.
That made it worse.
“You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
Caroline stared at him.
“Then tell me.”
The officers began moving him toward the hallway.
Luke leaned backward.
“Evelyn.”
Dr. Carter stiffened.
Caroline noticed.
Luke smiled.
“You remember what happened last time she started asking questions.”
The room changed.
Sarah glanced at Dr. Carter.
One officer paused.
Caroline whispered, “Last time?”
Luke laughed again as they dragged him through the doorway.
Then he called back.
“Ask the doctor why she already had your medical records before you came in tonight.”
The door slammed.
Silence.
Caroline looked at Dr. Carter.
Dr. Carter slowly lowered the file.
Outside, Luke could still be heard arguing with police.
Inside, Caroline’s monitor continued its steady electronic rhythm.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
“You knew I was coming?” Caroline asked.
“No.”
“Then what did he mean?”
Dr. Carter moved a chair beside the bed and sat.
“Your husband is trying to destabilize you.”
“Is he lying?”
Dr. Carter hesitated.
That hesitation told Caroline more than an immediate answer would have.
Caroline’s fingers closed around the blanket.
“Doctor.”
Dr. Carter exhaled.
“I have seen you before.”
Caroline stopped breathing.
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“That’s impossible.”
“You were brought into this hospital under a different surname.”
Caroline stared at her.
“My maiden name?”
“No.”
“What name?”
Dr. Carter looked toward Sarah.
Sarah quietly closed the hospital-room door.
Dr. Carter opened the file.
On top was a photograph.
Caroline recognized her own face.
She was lying in a hospital bed.
Her hair was shorter.
Her cheeks were hollow.
There was a bandage above her left eyebrow.
And beside her stood Luke.
Caroline took the photograph with shaking fingers.
“What happened to me?”
“You were pregnant.”
Caroline looked down instinctively at her swollen belly.
“No.”
“Three years ago.”
Her mouth became dry.
“I’ve never been pregnant before.”
Dr. Carter said nothing.
Caroline looked at the photograph again.
There was something else.
A handwritten date.
April 18.
Three years earlier.
And beneath the date were two words.
Twenty-nine weeks.
Caroline shook her head.
“No.”
“Caroline.”
“No.”
“You were admitted with severe abdominal trauma.”
“No.”
“The pregnancy ended that night.”
Caroline pushed the photograph away.
“No.”
Her monitor began sounding faster.
Sarah reached for her.
Caroline jerked away.
“No. I would remember losing a baby.”
Dr. Carter’s voice was gentle.
“You suffered a traumatic brain injury.”
“I would remember.”
“You were unconscious for almost two days.”
“I would remember.”
“When you woke up, Luke told us you had fallen down the stairs.”
Caroline stared at the ceiling.
Suddenly, for less than a second, she saw something.
A staircase.
A blue wall.
A hand around her wrist.
Then nothing.
She squeezed her eyes shut.
Dr. Carter continued.
“The pregnancy did not survive.”
Caroline opened her eyes.
“And you’re telling me I forgot?”
“I’m telling you someone made sure you never had the chance to remember properly.”
Before Caroline could answer, someone knocked.
A uniformed officer entered.
“Doctor?”
“Yes?”
“We found something in Mr. Miller’s car.”
Dr. Carter stood.
“What?”
The officer looked at Caroline.
“A medical bag.”
Caroline felt cold.
Luke was not a doctor.
The officer continued.
“There are prescription bottles inside. Some of them have Mrs. Miller’s name.”
Caroline looked toward the door.
“What prescriptions?”
The officer swallowed.
“Sedatives.”
Dr. Carter’s expression changed.
“How old are the bottles?”
“Some recent.”
“And the others?”
May you like
The officer looked at Caroline again.
“Three years.”
