Chapter 1 - The Woman Beside the Window
“Wellness retreat?”
Leah could not keep the amusement out of her voice.
Simone looked toward the hallway before lowering her phone.
“My husband worries.”
“So you told him you were at a spa?”
“Something like that.”
Simone picked up a bottle of face cream and studied the label as if the conversation had ended.
Leah sensed there was more to the answer but did not push.
She had enough problems of her own.
An hour later, Nathan arrived carrying coffee and no overnight bag.
Doreen walked in behind him.
That bothered Leah immediately.
She had called her husband.
She had not called his mother.
Doreen Carver entered the hospital room wearing a cream wool coat and pearl earrings, looking more prepared for a charity luncheon than a maternity ward.
“Dr. Rusk called me.”
Leah stared at her.
“My doctor called you?”
Doreen smiled.
“She knows I worry.”
Nathan placed the coffee on Leah’s table.
“Mom helped us get into Briar Glen.”
“I didn’t know that meant she got medical updates.”
Doreen ignored the comment.
She opened Leah’s bedside drawer and began arranging things.
“You should rest.”
“I was resting.”
“You’ve been under tremendous emotional strain.”
Leah looked at Nathan.
“What emotional strain?”
Nathan rubbed the back of his neck.
“You know what she means.”
“No, I don’t.”
Doreen sighed.
“The nightmares.”
Leah’s eyes narrowed.
She had told Nathan about one nightmare.
One.
At three in the morning.
Now his mother was discussing it as though it were a diagnosis.
Across the room, Simone stopped scrolling on her phone.
Doreen continued.
“Pregnancy can make women irrational.”
“I’m not irrational.”
“Nobody said you were.”
“You just did.”
Nathan leaned closer.
“Leah, don’t start.”
The words landed harder than they should have.
Don’t start.
As though she were already causing trouble.
A nurse entered carrying a clipboard.
Her badge read MAE ROWLAND, RN.
She was in her early forties, with dark hair pinned neatly behind her head and observant brown eyes.
“I need the patient’s signature on two admission forms.”
Doreen reached for the clipboard.
Mae pulled it back.
“The patient signs.”
For the first time since entering the room, Doreen’s smile disappeared.
Mae handed the papers to Leah.
Most were ordinary consent documents.
The last one was not.
PSYCHIATRIC CONSULTATION AUTHORIZATION.
Leah looked up.
“I didn’t request this.”
Nathan answered too quickly.
“It’s routine.”
Mae’s eyes moved toward him.
“No, it isn’t.”
The room went still.
Doreen gave Mae a cold look.
“Perhaps you should let the family handle family matters.”
Mae smiled politely.
“Perhaps the patient should decide what happens to the patient.”
Leah did not sign.
Mae removed the form.
Doreen waited until she left.
Then she turned to Nathan.
“We’ll discuss this later.”
Simone lifted her phone.
For half a second, Leah thought she saw the camera pointed directly at Doreen.
That evening, Nathan went home.
Doreen stayed another two hours.
Before leaving, she kissed Leah’s forehead.
“You’ll understand after the baby comes.”
Leah pulled away.
“Understand what?”
Doreen smiled.
“That sometimes a mother has to lose control before the family can take control for her.”
Then she walked out.
Across the room, Simone quietly locked her phone.
May you like
“I don’t think she meant that the way a normal mother-in-law would.”
Neither did Leah.
