Chapter 8 - The Service Corridor
Mae opened a cabinet.
Behind stacks of towels sat a folded gray housekeeping coat.
“Put this on.”
Leah stared at her.
“You’re serious?”
“Very.”
“I’m wearing a hospital gown.”
“Then button it.”
Leah struggled into the oversized coat.
Pain shot across her incision.
Mae wrapped Eli more tightly and lowered the bassinet canopy.
“We’re going through the service corridor.”
“Where?”
“Old lactation consultation room.”
“Why?”
“It has no electronic badge reader.”
“Which means?”
“No automatic access log.”
Leah looked at her.
“You’ve thought about this.”
Mae’s expression changed.
“My sister lost custody of her daughter for six weeks because her abusive husband convinced a hospital she was suicidal.”
Leah stopped moving.
Mae swallowed.
“She got her daughter back.”
“But those six weeks changed both of them.”
“I promised myself that if I ever saw something similar happening again, I wouldn’t ignore it.”
Leah touched her arm.
“I’m sorry.”
Mae nodded once.
“Come on.”
They slipped into the service corridor.
Laundry carts lined the wall.
Pipes hummed overhead.
Leah walked slowly behind Mae while pushing Eli.
At the intersection ahead, two security officers appeared.
Mae immediately grabbed a stack of folded sheets from a cart.
“Turn around.”
Leah turned her back.
Mae pretended to inspect the linen shelf.
The officers passed.
One was speaking into his radio.
“Patient is thirty-two, approximately five-four, brown hair.”
Leah’s entire body shook.
After they disappeared, Mae led her through another door.
The lactation room was small but comfortable.
A faded chair sat beside a sink.
Mae locked the door.
“Stay here.”
Leah shook her head.
“No more leaving without telling me exactly where you’re going.”
Mae nodded.
“Fair.”
“I’m going to find Simone.”
Leah stared at her.
“Why?”
“Because she’s scared.”
“And scared people make mistakes.”
“She might tell us everything.”
Leah looked down at Eli.
“What if Nathan finds me first?”
Mae handed her a small plastic alarm from her pocket.
“Press this.”
“It calls me.”
“Not security.”
Leah nodded.
Mae left.
Twenty minutes passed.
Then thirty.
Leah fed Eli.
For those few minutes, the hospital disappeared.
There was only the warmth of her son against her chest.
Then someone tried the door handle.
Leah froze.
The handle moved again.
“Leah?”
Nathan.
Her heartbeat stopped.
“Leah, I know you’re in there.”
She said nothing.
His voice softened.
“Please.”
“I can explain.”
Leah held Eli tighter.
Nathan rested his forehead against the door.
“My mother lied to both of us.”
Leah remained silent.
May you like
Then Nathan whispered.
“But if you don’t come out right now, she’s going to take Eli without either of us.”
