My Pregnancy Record Proved I Cheated? Then Why Did My Sister Panic? Chapter 04
I got to the hospital before dawn.
Dana was already there, standing outside the Medical Records Department with an appointment confirmation and a court order for the records in hand.
She let me glance at the order, then told me the hospital’s health IT department had agreed to cooperate but needed some time to pull everything together.
“How long?”
“About half an hour.” Dana checked her watch. “Want to grab something to eat first?”
“No.”
She didn’t press me.
I sat down on a bench in the hallway.
The hospital was quiet that early in the morning, and the sharp antiseptic smell was fainter than it had been the night before.
I stared at the closed door to Medical Records as scenes from yesterday’s wedding replayed in my head.
One image was Chloe slamming the pregnancy record onto the table. Another was her shoulders shaking as she cried.
Then there was Nathan, standing beneath the streetlight with that unfamiliar look on his face.
What he had said was, “You need to go apologize to Chloe.”
He hadn’t said, “I’ll go to the hospital with you,” or “I’ll handle this.”
It was as if Chloe had been his family all along, while I was just the one who had done something wrong and needed to confess.
I closed my eyes and filed that memory away in the locked folder in my mind.
Footsteps sounded from the other end of the hallway.
I didn’t open my eyes. I already knew who it was.
“Vivian.”
Chloe’s voice carried a faint, wounded note.
She stood about ten feet away in a hospital gown. She looked pale enough that she really could have just gotten out of bed.
Mom was right behind her.
The moment she saw me, her lips parted, but in the end she said nothing.
She only tightened her grip on Chloe’s arm. Not once in my entire life had she ever protected me like that.
“What are you doing here?” I got to my feet.
“Mom said you were here to get the records. I didn’t feel right about it, so I came down to see for myself.”
Chloe spoke softly, her voice weak and breathy.
“Vivian, are you really going to do this?”
“If you keep this up, how are Mom and Dad supposed to face anyone after this?”
I stared at her.
“We’re going to find out what really happened. Whoever did something wrong can deal with the consequences.”
“Wasn’t that your point yesterday? You have to be able to live with yourself.”
Chloe’s eyes reddened.
Her gaze slipped past my shoulder and lingered on something behind me.
I turned.
Nathan stood at the bend in the hallway, carrying breakfast in a bag.
When he saw Dana and me, he hesitated for a moment before continuing toward us.
He walked over to Chloe and handed her the bag with casual ease.
As Chloe took it, her fingers brushed his wrist.
“Thanks, Nathan.”
She lowered her head, her voice syrupy sweet.
“Sure,” Nathan murmured before finally turning to look at me.
I suddenly wanted to laugh.
“You came too.”
“I just came by to check in.”
He slipped his hands into his pockets, looking almost casual.
“Vivian, I’m not here to fight with you.”
“I want you to think carefully about what this could do to your reputation.”
“All I want is the truth.”
Nathan pressed his lips together and said nothing else.
Chloe walked up to me and lifted her head.
Her arms hung at her sides, her fingertips digging into her palms as her shoulders trembled slightly.
“Vivian,” she said, her voice shaking. “Do you really hate me that much?”
I looked at her.
She was baiting me. She was waiting for me to lose my temper. She was waiting for me to become the “crazy woman who hit her own sister” in front of Dana and Nathan.
I didn’t move.
The door to Medical Records opened.
A staff member leaned out and called me inside to sign off on the request.
I turned to go.
Chloe suddenly grabbed my wrist.
“Vivian,” she said, her voice breaking with tears. “Please. Can you stop making a scene?”
Several nurses in the hallway turned to look at us.
“Let go.”
I turned back to her.
“You’re the one making a scene.”
She took a step back and released me.
I went into the Medical Records office.
The staff member turned the monitor toward me so I could verify my information.
Dana stood beside me with the court order laid flat on the desk.
The printer whirred to life, buzzing like a fly trapped against a window.
Pages began sliding out.
Little by little, the patient name on the pregnancy record came into view.