Chapter 3: The Hospital Room
“Don’t trust Nathan.””
Dr. Patel’s words stayed in my head as I drove toward St. Matthew’s.
I didn’t tell Nathan what Claire had said.
I didn’t tell my mother either.
I simply folded my father’s letter, slipped the flash drive into my pocket, and left.
Nathan called after me.
“Daniel, wait.””
I kept walking.
He followed me onto the front porch.
“Is Claire awake?””
I turned.
“For a few seconds.””
His face changed.
“What did she say?””
There it was.
Not Is she okay?
Not Is the baby okay?
What did she say?
“Why?”” I asked.
Nathan shoved his hands into his pockets.
“I’m worried about her.””
“You watched her lie in a coffin while drinking whiskey.””
His jaw tightened.
“You think I wanted any of this?””
“I don’t know what you wanted.””
“Then stop looking at me like I killed her.””
I studied my brother.
“I never said you did.””
Nathan went still.
Behind him, Evelyn appeared in the doorway.
“Daniel,” she said, “whatever Claire tells you tonight, remember that she’s been heavily sedated.””
I almost laughed.
“You’re preparing me not to believe her?””
“I’m asking you to be rational.””
“My pregnant wife was drugged and placed in a coffin.””
Evelyn’s voice dropped.
“There are things about Claire you don’t know.””
“Then tell me.””
She hesitated.
Nathan looked at her sharply.
“Mom.””
That one word stopped her.
I got into my car.
As I pulled away, I saw them arguing beneath the porch light.
For the first time, I wondered whether my mother and brother were actually protecting each other.
Or whether each was terrified the other might talk.
At the hospital, a nurse led me through two secured doors.
Dr. Patel met me outside Claire’s room.
He was a lean man in his fifties with tired eyes.
“How is she?””
“Stable for now.””
“And the baby?””
“Fetal heartbeat is strong.””
My knees nearly buckled.
I covered my face for a second.
“Thank God.””
Dr. Patel waited.
Then his expression became serious.
“Mr. Hayes, we found a benzodiazepine-class sedative in your wife’s system at a concentration high enough to cause profound unconsciousness.””
“Could it have killed her?””
“Yes.””
The hallway seemed to tilt.
“Could it hurt the baby?””
“We’re monitoring both of them closely.””
I looked through the glass.
Claire lay beneath a white blanket, monitors surrounding her.
“She was put in a coffin.””
Dr. Patel stared at me.
“I heard.””
“Could someone have mistaken her for dead?””
“With competent medical assessment? No.””
That answer landed hard.
Someone had known.
I entered Claire’s room.
Her face looked pale against the pillow.
I sat beside her and took her hand.
“I’m here.””
Her fingers didn’t move.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner.””
The monitor continued its steady rhythm.
I leaned forward.
“You tried to warn me.””
Her eyelids fluttered.
“Claire?””
Her lips moved.
I stood quickly.
“Claire, can you hear me?””
Her eyes opened halfway.
“Daniel…”
“I’m here.””
Tears formed at the corners of her eyes.
“The baby?””
“Alive. She’s okay.””
Claire released a trembling breath.
Then panic crossed her face.
She gripped my wrist.
“Nathan.””
My body went rigid.
“What did Nathan do?””
Her eyes moved toward the door.
“He knows.””
“Knows what?””
“The safe.””
“I opened it.””
Fear replaced exhaustion.
“You opened it?””
“Yes.””
She tried to sit up.
Pain twisted her face.
“Claire, stay down.””
“The drive.””
I touched my pocket.
“I have it.””
She stared at me.
“Don’t plug it into anything connected to the internet.””
“Why?””
“Your father knew someone was watching his accounts.””
I leaned closer.
“What did you find?””
Claire swallowed.
“Three weeks ago, Evelyn asked me to sign documents.””
“What documents?””
“She said they were insurance forms for the baby.””
“Did you sign them?””
“No.””
Claire’s fingers tightened around mine.
“I read them.””
A faint alarm sounded from one of the monitors before settling.
“What were they?””
“Trust documents. They would’ve given Evelyn control over assets belonging to our daughter if anything happened to you.””
Cold spread through my chest.
“I’m not dead.””
“I know.””
“Then why prepare for my death?””
Claire’s eyes filled with tears.
“That’s what scared me.””
The door opened.
A nurse stepped inside.
“Mrs. Hayes needs rest.””
“One minute,” I said.
Claire looked at me desperately.
“There’s more.””
The nurse checked her IV.
“Her blood pressure is dropping. You need to step outside.””
I bent toward Claire.
“What else?””
She whispered so quietly I barely heard her.
“Your father didn’t die where Evelyn said he did.””
I froze.
“What?””
But Claire’s eyes closed again.
“Claire?””
The nurse pressed the call button.
“Sir, outside. Now.””
Two more staff members entered.
I backed into the hallway.
My phone vibrated.
Unknown number.
A photograph appeared.
It showed me sitting beside Claire’s hospital bed.
Taken through the small glass window in the door.
Someone was watching us.
Then a message arrived.
*YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT THE SAFE CLOSED.*
I spun around.
The hallway was empty.
Then the elevator doors opened.
Nathan stepped out.
He looked directly at me.
“Daniel.””
I slowly put my phone into my pocket.
Nathan approached.
“How is she?””
I said nothing.
He stopped a few feet away.
“What?””
I watched his face.
Then I asked the question Claire had planted in my mind.
May you like
“Where did Dad really die?””
Every trace of color disappeared from Nathan’s face.
