Chapter 6 - Behind the Locked Door
Mae moved quickly.
She locked Caleb’s bassinet wheels.
Then she looked at Leah.
“Can you walk?”
“Barely.”
“That’s enough.”
Nathan stepped forward.
“What is happening?”
Mae ignored him.
She helped Leah stand.
Pain tore across the incision.
Leah gasped.
Mae grabbed the bassinet with her other hand.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Now.”
They moved through the maternity corridor.
Leah heard Doreen calling behind them.
“Leah!”
Mae pushed open an unmarked door.
A narrow supply room waited beyond it.
Shelves of sterile packages lined the walls.
Mae guided Leah inside.
Then pulled Caleb’s bassinet in after her.
“Inside.”
Leah stared at her.
“What’s happening?”
Mae shut the door.
The lock clicked.
“Do not step into that hallway until I come back.”
Mae’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“Not even if your husband knocks.”
Leah’s heart slammed against her ribs.
“Mae.”
“Trust me for five minutes.”
Then Mae slipped out.
Leah remained in the dim room beside her newborn son.
Caleb slept beneath a pale blue blanket.
Footsteps approached.
Leah heard Doreen first.
“Where did she go?”
Nathan answered.
“I don’t know.”
“You were supposed to keep her calm.”
“I tried.”
Doreen’s heels clicked closer.
Then Dr. Rusk spoke.
“The transfer order has already been entered.”
Nathan’s voice shook.
“Without the hold?”
“It can be marked as a protective discharge pending evaluation.”
Leah covered her mouth.
Doreen lowered her voice.
“Once the psychiatric hold is signed, the baby leaves with family.”
A pause.
“Leah doesn’t get a choice.”
Leah’s blood turned cold.
Nathan whispered.
“What happens after seventy-two hours?”
Doreen answered.
“We petition for temporary custody.”
“And then?”
“Then we make temporary permanent.”
Leah stared at Caleb.
Her nightmare returned.
Nathan walking away with her baby.
Doreen watching.
Leah unable to reach them.
Only now the river was paperwork.
Forms.
Diagnoses.
Signatures.
A system designed to make her disappear without anyone physically dragging her away.
Nathan spoke again.
“What about the trust?”
Doreen became quieter.
“The trust activates once Caleb is legally under Carver family control.”
Leah’s breath caught.
Nathan whispered.
“How much?”
Doreen answered.
“Eight point two million.”
Silence.
Leah felt the last pieces fall into place.
This was not only about control.
It was money.
Mae’s voice suddenly cut through the hallway.
“Mrs. Carver, step away from the restricted area.”
Doreen snapped.
“You have no authority to speak to me that way.”
Mae answered.
“I do when someone is trying to remove a newborn without the mother’s consent.”
The footsteps moved away.
Then Leah heard something else.
A key turning.
She froze.
The supply-room door opened.
But it was not Mae.
May you like
Nathan stood on the other side.
And he was holding Caleb’s discharge bracelet in his hand.
