Chapter 2 - The Signature at the Hospital
The baby survived the fall.
Claire repeated those words every time the pain became unbearable.
The baby survived.
Her son.
The ultrasound technician had accidentally revealed the sex during the emergency examination.
Claire had cried.
Daniel had looked annoyed because they had planned to be surprised.
Both lower legs were fractured.
The right ankle had suffered the worst of the damage. Surgery was considered but postponed because the orthopedic team believed stable casting and close monitoring would be safer during pregnancy.
Claire spent two nights in the hospital.
Daniel stayed for six hours total.
Margaret stayed longer.
That frightened Claire more.
On the second afternoon, Margaret entered carrying a leather portfolio.
Claire had just finished a fetal monitoring session.
The steady heartbeat had finally calmed her.
"What is that?" Claire asked.
"Insurance paperwork."
"Leave it there."
"The hospital needs it."
"Then the hospital can bring it."
Margaret's mouth tightened.
"You've become very suspicious."
"I fell down my own stairs thirty seconds after discovering my handrail was loose."
"It was an accident."
"And Daniel happened to be standing outside."
"He came home for paperwork."
"At ten in the morning?"
"Yes."
"Without telling me?"
Margaret opened the portfolio.
"You hit your head."
Claire stared at her.
The doctors had found no head injury.
Margaret knew that.
"You remember things emotionally," she continued. "That's normal after trauma."
Claire reached for the call button.
Margaret caught her hand.
Not hard.
Just enough.
"Stop."
Claire looked down at the fingers around her wrist.
Margaret released her.
"I am trying to help."
"No. You're trying to make me doubt myself."
"Daniel is exhausted."
"Daniel isn't the one in two casts."
"He's carrying the entire burden now."
Claire almost laughed.
"What burden?"
"You."
The fetal monitor beeped steadily.
Claire's eyes went cold.
"Get out."
Margaret slid a document onto the tray table.
"Sign this first."
"No."
"You haven't read it."
"I don't need to."
"It's temporary medical authority. Daniel needs to be able to make decisions if there's an emergency."
"He already can as my husband."
"Not all financial decisions."
Claire looked at the document.
There it was again.
Not medical.
Financial.
She picked up the first page.
Durable power of attorney.
She turned to the second.
Authority over trusts, investments, corporate interests, inheritance, real property.
Claire's pulse accelerated.
"What is this?"
"Standard."
"No, it isn't."
"Daniel's lawyer prepared it."
"Why does Daniel have a lawyer preparing financial documents while I'm hospitalized?"
Margaret sighed.
"Because somebody in this family has to think ahead."
Claire scanned the page.
Then she saw her maiden name.
Claire Elizabeth Hayes.
Beneath it was a reference number.
HFT-2004-17.
She memorized it.
"What is HFT?"
Margaret closed the portfolio.
"Nothing you need to worry about."
Claire held onto the page.
Margaret tugged.
Claire refused to release it.
For several seconds they stared at each other.
Then a nurse entered.
"Everything okay?"
Margaret smiled immediately.
"Perfectly."
Claire did not look away from her mother-in-law.
"Take that paperwork out of my room."
The nurse's smile vanished.
"Ma'am?"
"That paperwork. I don't consent to it."
Margaret's face stiffened.
The nurse stepped closer.
"If the patient doesn't want documents presented, they need to be removed."
Margaret slowly gathered the pages.
"Of course."
Before leaving, she leaned near Claire.
"You're making this harder than it needs to be."
Claire answered softly.
"For who?"
Margaret walked out.
That evening Daniel arrived with flowers.
He placed them beside the window.
"Mom said you were difficult today."
Claire stared at him.
"Did she?"
"She was trying to help."
"Why are you trying to get power of attorney over my finances?"
Daniel stopped.
Only briefly.
Then he removed his jacket.
"In case something happens during delivery."
"Why does the document mention trusts?"
"Standard language."
"Why does it mention Hayes?"
"That's your legal history."
"What is HFT-2004-17?"
Daniel's back was turned.
Claire saw his shoulders become still.
"Where did you see that?"
"Answer me."
He turned slowly.
"I don't know."
"You reacted like you do."
"Claire, you are on pain medication."
"There it is again."
"What?"
"Your mother said I hit my head. Now you're using the medication."
"You did fall down a staircase."
"A staircase with a loose handrail."
"I've called someone to repair it."
"Who loosened it?"
Daniel stared.
"Are you accusing me?"
"I'm asking."
"You think I broke the railing so my pregnant wife would fall?"
Claire watched his face carefully.
A year earlier, she would have apologized immediately.
Now she stayed silent.
Daniel stepped closer.
"This is insane."
"Then explain why you were home."
"I forgot a contract."
"Where is it?"
"What?"
"The contract you came home for."
He blinked.
Claire felt something settle into place.
"What company?"
"Claire."
"What contract?"
"Stop interrogating me."
She pressed the nurse call button.
Daniel looked at it.
"Seriously?"
"You're upsetting me."
"I'm your husband."
"And I want you out."
His face changed.
For the first time she saw anger without the mask.
"You have no idea what I'm doing for you."
Claire's voice dropped.
"I think that's the problem."
The nurse arrived.
Daniel left.
At 1:13 the next morning, while Claire pretended to sleep, someone opened the door.
She kept her breathing slow.
Footsteps approached.
A hand moved near the bedside cabinet.
Paper rustled.
Then the person left.
Claire waited thirty seconds before opening her eyes.
The room was empty.
The copy of the power of attorney she had hidden beneath her discharge instructions was gone.
But before Margaret took it, Claire had written one thing on her phone.
HFT-2004-17.
At 1:16 a.m., Claire searched the number.
Nothing appeared.
Then she searched three words.
Hayes Family Trust.
The first result was an old corporate filing from seventeen years earlier.
Claire opened it.
Her father's name appeared.
Thomas Hayes.
Below it was another.
Rebecca Elaine Hayes.
Status: Trustee.
Claire stared at the screen.
Rebecca Hayes.
May you like
The aunt Claire had been told died before she was born.
And according to the filing, Rebecca had signed a document six years after her supposed death.
