crying baby with impatient movements.
‘You were useful for nine months,’ she said to Nora.
‘It’s over now.’
Nora felt tears gathering in her eyes, but beneath the pain and exhaustion, something sharper began to form.
She looked toward the blue curtain covering the window alcove.
It moved.
Barely.
But enough.
And suddenly, she remembered.
Nurse Elena Ruiz had been in the room earlier, checking Nora’s monitors and updating her chart.
When an alarm sounded near the window, Elena had stepped behind the curtain to inspect the equipment.
Then Damian and Vanessa had arrived, and the confrontation had begun before the nurse could return to the bedside.
Elena had heard everything.
Now the curtain moved again, and the nurse stepped into view.
‘Put that baby down,’ Elena said.
Damian turned sharply.
‘This is a private family matter.’
‘It stopped being private when you assaulted a recovering patient and took her newborn without her consent.’
Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
‘Nobody assaulted anybody,’ she protested.
‘Nora is emotional.
She just gave birth.’
Elena glanced at Nora’s throat, where faint red marks were beginning to appear.
‘I’ve documented her condition since she came out of delivery.
I know exactly how she looked before you entered this room.’
She stepped toward the bassinet, holding out her arms for Oliver.
‘Give him to me.
Now.’
For one tense second, Vanessa hesitated.
Then she reluctantly handed the crying infant to the nurse.
Elena settled Oliver safely in the bassinet and checked his breathing while calling for the attending physician.
She had already pressed the emergency alert button beside the window.
Within moments, hurried footsteps sounded in the corridor.
Two hospital security officers appeared in the doorway, followed by Dr.
Patel, the physician overseeing Nora’s recovery.
‘What’s happening?’ the doctor demanded.
Damian immediately stepped forward, his voice suddenly smooth and reasonable.
‘My wife and I have an arrangement.
She’s exhausted and confused.
I came to take our son home.’
‘No,’ Nora whispered.
‘I never agreed to that.’
Dr.
Patel moved to her bedside.
‘Nora, can you tell me whether you want your husband to take Oliver?’
Nora forced herself to look directly at Damian.
‘Absolutely not.’
The doctor’s expression hardened.
‘Then the baby remains here under our care while we establish what happened.’
Damian reached into his jacket and produced a thin folder.
‘It’s all documented.
She signed an agreement.’
He handed the top page to the doctor.
Nora stared at the signature.
It resembled hers, but the letters were wrong.
The final stroke was too long, and the loop in her surname was missing.
She had signed hundreds of documents over the years, but she had never signed this one.
‘I didn’t sign that,’ she said.
Damian’s jaw tightened.
‘You were aware of the arrangement.’
‘I was never aware of any arrangement.’
Dr.
Patel passed the document to the security officer without making any assumptions about its validity.
‘Please preserve this for the police,’ she said.
‘Nobody should remove it from the hospital.’
Vanessa began backing toward the door.
‘I’m pregnant.
I don’t need this stress.’
One of the officers stepped aside to keep the exit clear but asked her to remain available for questioning.
Damian looked at Nora, and for the first time since entering the room, he appeared unable to control the situation.
‘You’re making
