Chapter 7 - The Child No One Knew Existed
Police found Hannah shortly after eight that morning.
Alive.
Lauren did not believe it until she saw the ambulance pull into County General.
She ran.
Past the nurses.
Past Detective Nolan.
Past a deputy who tried to slow her down.
Then the ambulance doors opened.
A woman lay on the stretcher beneath a gray blanket.
Thin face.
Hollow cheeks.
Long dark hair streaked with silver.
But the eyes were the same.
“Hannah.”
The woman looked toward Lauren.
Her lips moved.
“Mom?”
Lauren made a sound she had never made before.
Half sob.
Half scream.
She climbed into the ambulance and wrapped both arms around her daughter.
For nine years she had imagined this moment.
In those fantasies Hannah was always healthy. Smiling. Running toward her.
Reality was uglier.
Hannah trembled when anyone moved too fast.
She had scars on her wrists.
She weighed barely a hundred pounds.
And she kept asking whether Daniel was locked up.
“Yes,” Lauren whispered. “He can’t touch you.”
Hannah started crying.
Then someone moved behind the stretcher.
A boy.
Maybe eight years old.
Small. Dark-haired. Frightened.
Lauren stared.
The boy clung to Margaret’s coat.
“Who is that?”
Margaret lowered her eyes.
Hannah tightened her grip on Lauren’s hand.
“His name is Noah.”
Lauren looked at her daughter.
“Who is he?”
Hannah’s expression broke.
“My son.”
The hallway seemed to go silent.
Lauren looked at the boy again.
Eight years old.
Born during Hannah’s disappearance.
“Who is his father?”
Hannah turned her face away.
Lauren didn’t need an answer.
Rage filled every empty space inside her.
“No.”
Hannah began shaking.
“Mom, please.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
Lauren froze.
Hannah looked back at her.
“It wasn’t Daniel.”
“Then who?”
Before Hannah could answer, Michael appeared at the far end of the hallway with an officer beside him.
He had been released pending further investigation. He looked exhausted.
Hannah saw him.
Her entire body stiffened.
“No.”
Lauren turned toward Michael.
Hannah pulled away from the stretcher rail.
“Get him out.”
Michael stopped walking.
“Hannah—”
“GET HIM OUT!”
Noah began crying.
Nurses rushed forward.
Lauren stepped between Michael and the stretcher.
“What did you do to her?”
Michael looked horrified.
“Nothing.”
Hannah pointed at him with a shaking hand.
“You left me there.”
Michael went pale.
Lauren’s voice dropped.
“Hannah, who is Noah’s father?”
Hannah stared at Michael.
May you like
And said, “Ask him what happened at the quarry.”
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