Chapter 5 - He Came to My Hospital Bed
Travis arrived at the hospital shortly after seven.
Security refused to let him into my room.
He argued.
He shouted.
He demanded to see his children.
Detective Ortiz stood twenty feet away and watched everything.
Eventually a nurse came to me.
“He says he needs to apologize.”
I stared at the ceiling.
I had imagined Travis beside me when our children were born.
I had pictured him holding my hand.
Crying.
Cutting the cord.
Whispering that he loved me.
Instead, a stranger had delivered our daughter while my husband carried his mother's shopping bags.
“I don't want him here.”
I said.
The nurse nodded.
Then the door opened anyway.
Not Travis.
Lauren.
My sister-in-law looked nothing like the smug woman who had left for the mall.
Her mascara was streaked.
Her hands shook.
“I know you don't want to see me.”
She whispered.
“You’re right.”
She flinched.
“I’m sorry.”
I looked away.
“Sorry doesn't give my son oxygen.”
Lauren began crying.
“I didn't know it was that bad.”
“You watched me fall to my knees.”
“I know.”
“You heard me say the babies were coming.”
“I know.”
“You left anyway.”
She covered her mouth.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then she stepped closer.
“There’s something you need to know.”
I looked at her.
“Mom has been telling Travis for months that you manipulate him with the pregnancy.”
My stomach turned.
“She said every doctor appointment was you trying to control him.”
“She said if he gave in once, you'd spend the rest of your marriage ordering him around.”
“That doesn't surprise me.”
Lauren shook her head.
“No.”
“You don't understand.”
“She told him today was a test.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“She said if you were really in labor, you'd call an ambulance yourself.”
“And if you weren't, you'd wait for him to come home.”
My hands curled beneath the blanket.
My babies had nearly died because Deborah Brooks wanted to test whether I was obedient.
Lauren wiped her face.
“And Dad agreed with her.”
A knock came at the door.
Detective Ortiz entered.
Her expression was serious.
“Mrs. Brooks, we have an update.”
My heart jumped.
“My son?”
“No.”
She closed the door.
“This concerns your husband.”
“What happened?”
“He says the recording is misleading.”
A cold laugh escaped me.
“Of course he does.”
“He also claims you told him earlier that morning that the contractions were false labor.”
“That’s a lie.”
“I assumed so.”
Detective Ortiz opened her folder.
“That’s why I wanted to show you this.”
She placed a printed screenshot on my blanket.
It was a text conversation.
Sent at 1:08 p.m.
From me to Travis.
My contractions are five minutes apart.
Dr. Collins said if that happens, go straight to the hospital.
Travis had answered.
Fine.
Then another message.
Mom wants to stop somewhere first.
I stared at the screen.
Detective Ortiz spoke quietly.
“He knew exactly what was happening.”
Then she turned the page.
May you like
“And according to his own phone records, he did something fifteen minutes after leaving you that makes this much worse.”
---
