Chapter 1 - The wrong baby
Five hours after giving birth, I discovered the baby beside my hospital bed was not registered as mine.
I remember every detail of the screen.
Not because I understood the hospital software.
Because the name at the top was not mine.
MOTHER: ELISE MARLOWE
Below it:
Female infant.
Birth time:
4:17 a.m.
My daughter had been born at:
3:42 a.m.
Thirty-five minutes earlier.
I looked at Nurse Noeline.
“What does that mean?”
She did not give me an answer she could not prove.
Good nurse.
“It means this electronic identification tag belongs to another newborn.”
“Is this another newborn?”
“I need to verify that.”
Aloysius pushed himself upright beside the overturned chair.
“Jessamy, this is ridiculous.”
Noeline raised one hand.
“Do not touch the bassinet.”
“I’m her father.”
“At this moment, I have an unresolved newborn identification mismatch.”
His expression changed.
Not enough for anyone else.
Enough for me.
Caius was crying against my hip.
His left cheek was turning red where his father had slapped him.
I looked down.
“Tell me again.”
He sniffed.
“I saw Dad move them.”
Aloysius said:
“He’s six.”
Noeline answered:
“And right now he is also a witness. Stop speaking over him.”
I will remember her for that sentence as long as I live.
Noeline activated the hospital’s infant-security response.
Doors did not magically slam like a prison.
Staff were notified.
Newborn movement paused.
Charge nurse arrived.
Security arrived.
The maternity unit began matching:
Mothers.
Infants.
Bands.
Bassinet locations.
Electronic tag histories.
No one guessed.
No one handed me a baby because I demanded one.
My daughter had become a patient-safety investigation.
Then another nurse entered quickly.
“Noeline.”
“What?”
“We found Baby Fenwick.”
My heart stopped.
“Where?”
The nurse hesitated.
“In Room 418.”
“Whose room?”
May you like
“Elise Marlowe’s.”
Aloysius closed his eyes.
