Chapter 4 - THE CHILD THEY ALMOST LOST
The doctors worked for four hours.
Medication slowed the contractions.
The bleeding gradually decreased.
My daughter’s heartbeat stabilized shortly after midnight.
Dr. Foster told me the danger had not completely passed.
But for the moment, my baby remained safely inside me.
My father sat beside the bed without leaving.
His official staff waited outside.
So did Agent Reed.
David remained in police custody until nearly three in the morning.
He was released while prosecutors reviewed the evidence.
A temporary protection order prevented him from contacting me.
Sylvia was also ordered to remain away from the hospital.
When I woke near dawn, my father was reading the police report.
He closed it immediately.
“You should rest.”
“I rested for three years.”
“I need to know what happens now.”
He looked at me carefully.
“What do you want to happen?”
I had expected him to promise revenge.
I had expected the powerful judge everyone feared.
Instead, he gave me a choice.
That was something David had stopped giving me long ago.
“I want the truth recorded.”
“It will be.”
“I want my baby safe.”
“She will be.”
“I want David to stop using the law as a weapon.”
My father’s expression hardened.
“That requires more than one police report.”
“What do you mean?”
Agent Reed entered carrying my broken phone inside an evidence bag.
“The device may still contain recoverable data.”
“Messages?”
“Messages, recordings, deleted files, location history.”
He placed another folder on the table.
“Mr. Mercer contacted the sheriff six times before officers arrived.”
I looked at him.
“What did he say?”
“He requested that the incident be treated as a private family medical issue.”
“He also asked whether your psychiatric history could be used to prevent an arrest.”
“I don’t have a psychiatric history.”
“Someone created one.”
My father turned toward Reed.
The agent continued.
“Dr. Lawrence Keene submitted notes describing Anna as emotionally unstable.”
“He claims he treated her for paranoia and pregnancy-related delusions.”
I had never met Dr. Keene.
Yet his reports dated back almost eighteen months.
David had been preparing this.
The Christmas incident was not the first time he planned to use the law against me.
It was only the first time he believed he needed the paperwork.
My father opened the folder.
The reports described imaginary appointments.
They claimed I had accused Sylvia of controlling behavior.
They claimed I believed David monitored my phone.
They called those beliefs delusions.
But David did monitor my phone.
He knew every call I made.
He changed passwords without telling me.
He demanded access to my email.
“What was he preparing for?” I asked.
Agent Reed looked toward my father.
“A custody dispute.”
A legal petition had already been drafted.
It requested sole custody of our unborn child.
May you like
David planned to file it immediately after the delivery.
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