Chapter 3 - No Visitors
Dr. Patel emerged just after sunset. “Grace is stable,” she said. “The baby has a heartbeat. We're monitoring them closely because complications can develop after trauma. She needs rest, and we need time.”
For the first time in an hour, my lungs worked. I sat beside Grace's bed until she opened her eyes. She watched me for a moment before speaking.
“Did you see?”
“Yes.”
“Are you going to explain it away?”
“No. I'm sorry I ever made you feel you had to prove it.”
Her eyes filled, but she didn't reach for me. “Your mother came to the dressing room before the ceremony. She told me to sign something. Said if I didn't, she'd show Olivia proof I was stealing from the family foundation.”
“Stealing?”
“I've never touched their accounts, Ethan. She said you knew.”
I shook my head. Grace stared at the ceiling. “I wanted you to be proud of me. Instead I spent four years trying not to make your mother angry.”
Outside, an argument rose near the nurses' desk. Mother had arrived with a public-relations consultant and a giant bouquet of white roses. She insisted family had a right to visit. I stepped into the hall.
When we were first married, Grace used to leave sticky notes on the refrigerator: Buy oat milk. Call the plumber. Love you, even when you steal the blankets. Slowly the notes disappeared. She had grown careful about anything my mother might see, any sentence that could be repeated at a family dinner and turned into evidence against her. I'd mistaken her silence for harmony. Standing in the hallway, I finally understood how lonely our home had become, even with me in it.
“You won't see her.”
“Your wife has made a terrible accusation.”
“My wife is in a hospital bed.”
Mother lifted her chin. “Ethan, do not forget who paid for this hospital wing.”
A security officer moved closer. I held up my phone and played the video. Mother's polished expression slipped. Only for a second, but enough.
“That angle is deceptive,” she said.
“The police can decide.”
The consultant began whispering in her ear. Mother ignored him. “You have no idea what she's done to us.”
“Then tell me.”
May you like
Instead she looked past me into Grace's room. “Ask her about the safety deposit box.”
When I turned, Grace was watching through the glass. At those words, she closed her eyes.
