Chapter 10 - The Locked Door
The hospital lockdown began at 2:09 a.m.
Every exit was sealed.
Security flooded the fourth floor.
Wade regained consciousness within minutes.
His first word was not Kayla.
Not Samuel.
“Baby.”
“He's safe,” I told him.
He tried to stand.
“No.”
“Wade.”
“I'm fine.”
“You were hit in the head.”
“I've had worse.”
Kayla knelt beside him.
“Would you stop saying that?”
He looked at her.
She was crying.
“You don't get to show up after twenty-six years and get yourself killed in two days.”
Even Wade had no response to that.
Security discovered someone had deliberately triggered a failure in a secondary electrical panel.
The main hospital systems had never been at serious risk.
The darkness had been created for one reason.
Opportunity.
Someone wearing Wade's stolen badge had attempted to enter a medication storage area near the NICU.
A nurse saw him.
He ran.
Cameras captured only part of his face.
Richard Collins.
Police issued a warrant.
Richard disappeared before officers reached his hotel.
Inside his room, they found maps of the hospital.
Photographs of Samuel.
Kayla.
Wade.
And copies of trust documents.
That ended any remaining doubt.
Someone wanted access to Samuel.
But why the medication room?
Detective Brooks had a theory.
“If someone wanted the baby's condition to worsen without obvious violence, medication would be one route.”
Kayla became physically sick.
Wade stood beside her.
“I want him moved.”
Dr. Patel agreed.
Samuel was transferred to a more secure section of the hospital.
Only essential staff had access.
Wade stayed.
Kayla stayed.
And for the next forty-eight hours, nothing happened.
Sometimes silence is worse than action.
Samuel's cardiology consult eventually brought cautiously good news.
The defect was serious but treatable.
If he continued gaining weight, surgery could be scheduled when he was stronger.
Kayla cried from relief.
Wade asked seventeen questions.
The cardiologist finally smiled.
“You've done your homework.”
“I build engines.”
“Babies aren't engines.”
“No.”
Wade looked at Samuel.
“They're harder.”
The days began forming a routine.
Kayla completed parenting classes.
She met with social workers.
Wade's house passed inspection.
His friends installed smoke detectors, assembled a crib, and somehow turned an unused bedroom into a nursery in forty-eight hours.
When Kayla saw photographs, she stared at the walls.
They were painted pale green.
“Why green?”
Wade shrugged.
“I didn't know what babies like.”
“Babies don't care.”
“That's what Moose said.”
She laughed.
It was the first time I heard her laugh without sadness underneath.
Then the DNA results for Travis arrived.
He was Samuel's biological father.
Kayla had expected it.
Wade had hoped otherwise.
Travis immediately petitioned for visitation.
His attorney argued that allegations against him were unproven.
Richard Collins could not be directly connected to Travis.
Dean's statement was being challenged.
The family court scheduled an emergency hearing.
Kayla panicked.
“He'll take Samuel.”
“No,” Wade said.
“You don't know him.”
“No.”
Wade looked at her.
“But I'm learning you.”
She frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“It means three days ago you thought you were the kind of mother who runs.”
Kayla looked away.
“Now?”
“You haven't left this floor.”
She swallowed.
Wade continued.
“You learned his medications. You know every number on that monitor. You wake up every two hours even when nurses tell you to sleep.”
He touched her shoulder.
“Maybe stop judging yourself by the worst thing you ever did.”
Kayla looked at the old bracelet on his wrist.
“You first.”
That stopped him.
She smiled slightly.
“Fair?”
Wade nodded.
“Fair.”
The hearing was scheduled for Monday.
Sunday night, Travis came to the hospital.
Alone.
No lawyer.
No flowers.
He asked to speak with Wade.
Security almost refused.
Wade agreed.
They met behind glass in a consultation room.
Travis looked terrified.
“I need protection.”
Wade stared at him.
“From Richard?”
Travis shook his head.
“Richard is missing.”
“I know.”
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Travis leaned forward.
“Richard wasn't trying to kill Samuel.”
Wade's eyes narrowed.
“He was trying to prove someone else was.”
“Who?”
Travis looked toward the hallway.
May you like
Then whispered:
“Margaret.”
