Chapter 3 - The Echo of Room 614
I unlatched the chain and stepped back, letting the chief of pediatrics inside my modest apartment. Her eyes scanned the papers scattered across my kitchen table—the shift logs, the medical charts, the photos.
"You knew," I said flatly.
"I suspected," Dr. Vale corrected, her voice heavy with fatigue as she sat down at the table. "For months, I’ve noticed discrepancies in state custody transfers out of the pediatric floor. Children with minor, easily treatable issues were suddenly marked as cases of 'severe neglect.' But until tonight—until I saw the look on Delia’s face when you pointed out that tourniquet—I couldn't prove it."
"They took my daughter eleven years ago, Dr. Vale. They told me she died!" My voice cracked, tears finally spilling over. "Was she... is she alive?"
Dr. Vale reached out, gently covering my trembling hand. "I checked the deep archives two hours ago after I saw the purple ink mark you were looking at. Maren... there is no death certificate on file at the state registry for Lena Cole. Only a forged discharge order to a private adoption network operating out of Zurich and Boston."
The room spun. My daughter—my sweet Lena—was not dead. She had been stolen.
"Why?" I choked out.
"Money and influence," Dr. Vale said bitterly. "Vance and his network sell healthy infants to ultra-wealthy families under the radar, forging state abandonment paperwork. They target mothers who are isolated—women who won't be believed if they cry foul. Eleven years ago, it was you. Today, it’s Tessa Ward."
"We have to stop them," I demanded, stepping toward her. "Ivy is still in that hospital!"
"Vance has ordered an expedited transport for Ivy at midnight," Dr. Vale revealed, looking at her watch. "They are claiming her conditions are escalating and she needs an 'off-site specialized facility.' Once she leaves Bellweather, she will vanish into their system forever."
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"Not while I'm breathing," I said, grabbing my coat. "I know every ventilation shaft, every service corridor, and every blind spot in that building's security cameras. You might be the chief of pediatrics, Dr. Vale, but I know how to move through that hospital like a ghost."
Dr. Vale stood up, a resolute look in her eyes. "Then let's go get her back."
