Chapter 4: My Family Wanted Her Silenced
"They're demanding that Hannah Parker be transferred immediately..."
The security officer's words echoed through the ICU.
"...before she wakes up long enough to talk."
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
I stared at him.
"What exactly did you say?"
He swallowed.
"Your parents are downstairs, Dr. Harrison. Your younger brother is with them, along with the Harrison family's attorney."
A cold feeling spread through my chest.
My parents hadn't visited this hospital in years.
They hated hospitals.
My mother considered them "places for people who failed to control their lives."
Yet somehow, within hours of Hannah's emergency surgery, they were already here.
That wasn't a coincidence.
"Who told them she was here?" I asked.
The security officer shook his head.
"I don't know."
Neither did I.
Hannah had been admitted as a Jane Doe for nearly twenty minutes before her identification had been confirmed.
Only a handful of people knew her name.
Yet my family had arrived almost immediately.
Someone had informed them.
But who?
I looked back at Hannah.
She was exhausted from trying to speak.
The sedatives were beginning to pull her back into sleep.
Still, she refused to let go of my wrist.
Her fingers were ice cold.
"It's okay," I whispered.
"No one is taking you anywhere."
A single tear slid down her cheek.
Slowly...
Very slowly...
Her grip loosened.
She drifted back into unconsciousness.
I stood there another few seconds, watching the steady rhythm of her heartbeat on the monitor.
Then I turned toward the nurse.
"No visitors."
She nodded.
"Not even family?"
"Especially not my family."
Five minutes later I stepped into the private consultation room beside the ICU.
My parents were already waiting.
My mother, Victoria Harrison, stood beside the window wearing an immaculate white designer suit.
Not a single strand of her silver-blonde hair was out of place.
She looked more prepared for a board meeting than a hospital.
Beside her stood my father, Charles Harrison.
Even in his seventies he radiated the authority that had built the Harrison empire.
My younger brother, Lucas, leaned casually against the wall, checking his phone as though this were a minor inconvenience.
The fourth person was Richard Collins.
The Harrison family's personal attorney.
My mother smiled.
"There you are."
Not once did she ask how my patient was.
Not once.
"You came quickly," I said.
"We had to."
Her smile never reached her eyes.
"I understand you've been treating... Miss Parker."
She still couldn't bring herself to say Hannah's first name.
"Yes."
"I assume the surgery was successful."
"Why are you here?"
My father answered.
"We're taking responsibility for the situation."
I frowned.
"What situation?"
"The woman."
"Hannah."
He ignored the correction.
"She'll be transferred to Harrison Memorial."
"No."
The word left my mouth before he finished speaking.
Silence.
My mother folded her arms.
"Ethan."
"No."
"You're being emotional."
"I'm being her physician."
"There are better facilities."
"No."
My father stepped closer.
"This isn't a discussion."
"It absolutely is."
His expression hardened.
"You're forgetting who you're speaking to."
I looked him directly in the eyes.
"For the first time in my life..."
"I don't care."
Lucas sighed dramatically.
"Seriously?"
He slipped his phone into his pocket.
"We're all wasting time."
He looked at me with a smirk I'd grown up seeing.
"The woman almost died."
"So?"
I stared at him.
"So?"
"She'll recover."
"Hopefully."
"But this is becoming inconvenient."
"Inconvenient?"
He shrugged.
"If she starts talking—"
He stopped abruptly.
My eyes narrowed.
"If she starts talking..."
"What?"
Lucas glanced toward our father.
Too late.
I had seen it.
Fear.
Real fear.
"What is she supposed to know?"
No one answered.
I looked at each of them.
My mother.
Father.
Brother.
Attorney.
Every single face had gone pale.
Something was terribly wrong.
My mother recovered first.
"She's unstable."
"She's been through significant trauma."
"People in her condition often confuse reality."
I laughed.
Actually laughed.
It sounded hollow even to me.
"Interesting."
"What?"
"Five years ago you told me exactly the same thing."
She froze.
"You said Hannah was unstable."
"You said she fabricated stories."
"You said she manipulated people."
No one spoke.
I took one slow step forward.
"What if she was telling the truth?"
My father's jaw tightened.
"She wasn't."
"How do you know?"
"I know."
"No."
I shook my head.
"You needed me to believe she was lying."
My mother's voice became dangerously soft.
"Ethan."
"I've read her letter."
Every face changed.
Especially Richard Collins.
The attorney looked genuinely alarmed.
"What letter?" my mother demanded.
"The one Hannah wrote."
She turned toward Richard.
"You knew?"
He looked equally confused.
"I have no idea what he's talking about."
Good.
That meant even they hadn't known.
My father changed tactics.
"This is ancient history."
"No."
"It became history because you made it history."
I stepped closer.
"I have one question."
"What?"
"Did Hannah come looking for me after we separated?"
Silence.
"Answer me."
Lucas looked away.
That was enough.
I turned toward him.
"You knew."
"No."
"You knew."
"I said no."
"You just lied."
My brother slammed his hand against the table.
"Fine!"
The room exploded into silence.
He looked at our parents.
Then back at me.
"She came."
My heart stopped.
"When?"
"Twice."
Everything around me blurred.
Twice.
Hannah had come.
She hadn't abandoned me.
She hadn't disappeared.
She had tried.
"What happened?"
Lucas hesitated.
My mother spoke sharply.
"Lucas."
"No."
I raised my voice.
"Let him answer."
He swallowed.
"The first time..."
"...Mom ordered security to remove her."
I slowly turned toward my mother.
She didn't deny it.
"The second time?"
Lucas looked ashamed.
"Dad paid someone."
"What do you mean?"
"To tell her you'd left the country."
I couldn't breathe.
"You were still living in Chicago."
"I know."
"You were operating at Northwestern by then."
"I know."
My legs felt weak.
For five years...
I had believed Hannah had walked away.
For five years...
She had believed I didn't want to see her.
Because my parents had made certain we never found each other.
"Why?"
The question came out almost broken.
"Why?"
No one answered.
I looked at my father.
"You forged evidence."
"You destroyed our relationship."
"You lied to both of us."
"Why?"
He adjusted his cufflinks.
"Because she wasn't suitable."
My hands curled into fists.
"Suitable?"
"You had obligations."
"I loved her."
"You were twenty-seven."
"I was an adult."
"You were an heir."
"I never wanted to be your heir!"
The words echoed through the room.
No one spoke.
Not even Lucas.
"I wanted to marry her."
"I wanted a family."
"I wanted a normal life."
"You wanted control."
My mother finally lost her composure.
"We wanted to protect you!"
"From what?"
"From poverty."
I laughed again.
"Beneath your standards?"
"Exactly."
She actually said it.
Exactly.
I remembered every conversation Hannah and I had shared.
Every dream.
A little house.
Two children.
A golden retriever.
She wanted a vegetable garden.
I wanted a swing on the porch.
We had planned everything.
While my parents planned how to destroy it.
The ICU doors suddenly opened.
A resident hurried toward me.
"Dr. Harrison."
"What happened?"
"It's your patient."
Every muscle in my body tightened.
"Is she crashing?"
"No."
"Then what?"
"She asked for you."
I didn't wait.
I ran.
Hannah was awake.
The breathing tube had been removed.
She looked impossibly weak.
Speaking clearly seemed painful.
But she smiled when she saw me.
It was small.
Fragile.
The first smile I'd seen from her in five years.
"Ethan..."
Hearing my name in her voice nearly broke me.
"I'm here."
She studied my face.
"You... look tired."
Despite everything...
She was worried about me.
I couldn't answer.
There were too many emotions trapped inside my chest.
Finally I managed,
"The babies are doing well."
Fresh tears filled her eyes.
"My babies..."
"They're beautiful."
She smiled again.
"I know."
"You've seen them?"
She nodded faintly.
"The nurses..."
"...showed me pictures."
For several seconds we simply looked at one another.
Neither of us knew where to begin.
Five years.
Five years of unanswered questions.
Five years of pain.
Then Hannah whispered something so softly I almost missed it.
"I'm sorry."
I blinked.
"Sorry?"
"I couldn't..."
"...find you."
The words shattered what remained of my heart.
She still believed she had failed me.
I moved my chair closer.
"No."
My voice shook.
"You did."
"What?"
"You came."
She stared at me.
"I know."
Confusion spread across her exhausted face.
"How?"
"I know everything."
Not everything.
Not yet.
But enough.
Enough to understand who had stolen our future.
Tears spilled silently down Hannah's cheeks.
"You finally know..."
She closed her eyes.
"I prayed..."
"...one day..."
"...you'd know..."
Before I could answer, a monitor at the nurses' station began sounding.
Not from Hannah's room.
From the NICU.
A nurse's terrified voice echoed down the hallway.
"Code Blue!"
Another shouted immediately after.
"It's Baby A!"
Everything inside me froze.
Hannah heard it too.
Her eyes flew open in panic.
"No..."
She tried to sit up despite her fresh surgical incision.
"My baby..."
I was already running toward the neonatal intensive care unit.
Completely unaware that the emergency unfolding inside wasn't an accident at all.
May you like
Someone had entered the NICU only two minutes earlier...
Using a security badge that belonged to the Harrison family.
