Chapter 15 - The Locked Nursery
"Step away from that door," the guard told Vanessa.
She raised her chin. "I'm here on behalf of the baby's father. Don't you know who he is?"
"Visiting permissions are controlled by the patient's care team and hospital policy," the guard said. "Your band isn't valid."
Rebecca arrived with another nurse. Vanessa looked past them at the incubators. The cherry-red smile that had cut through the hallway twelve hours earlier had disappeared.
"I only want a picture," she said. "Preston asked me to check on her."
"You kicked her mother while she was pregnant," Rebecca said. "You are not coming in."
Vanessa's face hardened. "She was trying to ruin my life."
"Then you should have walked away."
Security escorted Vanessa to a public seating area while Detective Morales was contacted. No one grabbed her; no one needed to. Her heels clicked louder than her arguments.
Emily asked to speak to her in the presence of Raymond, Ava, and the detective. She stayed seated. Her stitches hurt too much for a showdown, and she had learned she didn't need to stand to be heard.
"Did you come here to scare me again?" Emily asked.
Vanessa stared at the floor. "Preston said you were pretending. He said you'd never let him leave you."
"So you kicked me?"
"I thought you'd fall back into the railing. I didn't think..."
"You didn't think about Nora. You didn't think about me." Emily kept her voice level. "You made a choice."
A phone vibrated in Vanessa's hand. She glanced at a message, and whatever certainty remained in her face gave way. She turned the screen toward Ava. Preston had written: Tell the police you acted alone. If you don't, I'll make sure they know about the money.
"He told me he'd marry me," Vanessa whispered. "He said we'd run this place together."
"And now he's offering you up," Ava said. "You need your own lawyer. I won't bargain for you, and I can't promise what the police will do."
Vanessa looked at Emily. "I recorded him. Before the elevator. I kept the file in case he lied to me."
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She unlocked her phone and pressed play.
Preston's voice filled the room: "If she won't sign, make her afraid for the baby."
