Chapter 8 - The Devoted Husband
When Leah returned to her hospital room, Nathan was waiting.
He stood beside the window holding a bouquet of white roses.
Doreen was gone.
Dr. Rusk was gone.
Nathan looked exhausted.
That almost made Leah angry enough to laugh.
He stepped toward her.
“I was worried.”
Leah allowed Mae to position Owen beside the bed.
Then she looked at Nathan.
“I needed air.”
“In a supply closet?”
“I panicked.”
Nathan’s shoulders relaxed slightly.
Good.
He believed her.
Leah lowered her eyes.
“I’m sorry.”
Nathan put the flowers down.
“You don’t need to apologize.”
He sat beside her.
“This has been hard.”
Leah forced herself not to recoil when he touched her hand.
“Your mother scares me.”
Nathan sighed.
“I know she can be intense.”
“Is she trying to take Owen?”
His fingers tightened.
“No.”
The lie came smoothly.
Leah looked at him with deliberately frightened eyes.
“Promise.”
Nathan leaned closer.
“I promise.”
She nearly hated him in that moment.
Not because he lied.
Because he made the lie sound loving.
Leah let her eyes fill with tears.
“I don’t want people thinking I’m unstable.”
Nathan rubbed her hand.
“Nobody thinks that.”
Another lie.
She nodded.
“I just want to go home with you and Owen.”
Nathan smiled.
“That’s what I want too.”
Leah studied him.
Nathan truly believed he was winning.
She whispered,
“Will you ask your mother to stay away tonight?”
He hesitated.
Then nodded.
“Of course.”
“Thank you.”
Nathan kissed her forehead.
Leah forced herself to remain still.
After he left to take a call, Simone’s curtain moved.
“You deserve an Oscar.”
Leah wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
“I feel sick.”
“You did exactly what you needed.”
Mae entered with a woman wearing a navy hospital badge.
“This is Elena Price.”
The woman introduced herself as the senior patient-rights administrator.
She closed the door.
Then she listened.
Leah explained the forged authorization.
The fabricated notes.
The conversation outside the supply room.
Elena asked to hear the recording.
When it ended, she sat silently for several seconds.
“This is serious.”
Leah’s voice shook.
“Can they take my baby?”
Elena answered carefully.
“Not simply because a family member requests it.”
“What about the hold?”
“A psychiatric hold requires clinical grounds.”
“A disagreement with your mother-in-law is not grounds.”
Simone added,
“Nor is a nightmare.”
Elena nodded.
“I’m ordering an immediate independent review.”
“What about Dr. Rusk?”
“She will not make psychiatric decisions about you.”
Leah closed her eyes.
Relief came too early.
Elena continued.
“There’s another problem.”
Leah opened her eyes again.
“What?”
“A temporary discharge authorization for your son has already been prepared.”
Leah stared at her.
“Prepared by whom?”
Elena placed a photocopy on the bed.
Emergency family discharge representative.
Nathan Carver.
Secondary representative.
Doreen Carver.
At the bottom was another signature supposedly belonging to Leah.
This one looked even better than the first.
Leah felt nothing for several seconds.
Then her fear disappeared completely.
Something colder replaced it.
She looked at Elena.
“They forged my name twice.”
Elena nodded.
Leah turned toward the doorway where Nathan had disappeared.
For the first time since entering Briar Glen, Leah stopped feeling like prey.
“Good.”
Simone raised an eyebrow.
“Good?”
May you like
Leah looked at the forged signature.
“Now we have proof this was never about protecting me.”
