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<\/p>\n\u201cYou saw her after she was born?\u201d Cody nodded. \u201cBefore they took you away.\u201d I felt the blood drain from my face. \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d He climbed off his bed and hurried to his desk. From underneath a stack of school papers, he pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to me. It was a drawing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A hospital hallway. Two elevators. A man standing beside them. And in his arms was a tiny baby wrapped in a white blanket. Next to the man was another person wearing dark clothes. I stared at the drawing. \u201cWho is this?\u201d \u201cDad.\u201d My fingers trembled. \u201cAnd this person?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d \u201cAre you sure that was your father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d \u201cCody, your father was with me.\u201d \u201cNot the whole time.\u201d The words landed like a stone. \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d He lowered his voice. \u201cAfter the doctors took you away, Dad told me to stay with Grandma. But I couldn\u2019t find her.\u201d He swallowed. \u201cSo I went looking for him.\u201d I closed my eyes. \u201cWhere did you find him?\u201d \u201cDownstairs.\u201d \u201cWhich floor?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know. There were lots of elevators.\u201d \u201cAnd the baby?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cody looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was crying.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach twisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did your father do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kept saying, \u2018It\u2019s okay. It\u2019s okay. Your mommy will come for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour mommy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cody nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the woman took the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat woman?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe one Dad gave the envelope to.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at the drawing again.<\/p>\n
My mind began racing.<\/p>\n
There had to be an explanation.<\/p>\n
There had to be.<\/p>\n
Nolan had never given me any reason to doubt him.<\/p>\n
He had held my hand during labor.<\/p>\n
He had stayed beside me when everything went wrong.<\/p>\n
He had slept in a chair beside my hospital bed.<\/p>\n
He had cried when the doctor told us Maisie was gone.<\/p>\n
But now another thought forced itself into my mind.<\/p>\n
If Cody had really seen Nolan with a crying baby, why hadn\u2019t Nolan told me?<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Dad now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cody pointed toward the kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart began pounding.<\/p>\n
I walked down the hallway.<\/p>\n
Nolan was standing near the back door, staring into the yard.<\/p>\n
He turned when he heard me.<\/p>\n
His face immediately changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cJenna?\u201d<\/p>\n
I held up Cody\u2019s drawing.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
He stared at it.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, he didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at Cody.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere did you get that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cody stepped behind me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s face went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cCody\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEnough.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sharpness in Nolan\u2019s voice frightened me.<\/p>\n
Cody grabbed my shirt.<\/p>\n
I stepped between them.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t talk to him like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cJenna, you don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen explain it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cExplain the baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
My knees nearly gave out.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was another baby in the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaisie?\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to find someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked toward the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cA woman named Rebecca.\u201d<\/p>\n
The name meant nothing to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is Rebecca?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan rubbed his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t explain this here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen explain it somewhere else.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at Cody.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo to your room.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCody\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe stays with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
Then he whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cMaisie wasn\u2019t supposed to die.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went completely silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you just say?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctors made a mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
My entire body went cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat mistake?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t allowed to tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho told you?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho, Nolan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
I took a step backward.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI tried to find out what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me she died.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what they told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me our daughter was dead.\u201d<\/p>\n
His eyes filled with tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought she was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThought?\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the surgery, they told me Maisie had no heartbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n
My voice broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you believed them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no reason not to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why were you carrying a baby?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan looked at Cody.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause someone asked me to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
He hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cA nurse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat nurse?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know her name.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know her name?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe found me in the hallway.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd gave you a baby?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan sat down.<\/p>\n
His hands were shaking.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told me there had been a problem with the paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat paperwork?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe baby\u2019s identification bracelet.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart began pounding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan looked directly at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said there had been another emergency delivery that night.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cA baby had been born alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
I whispered, \u201cWhose baby?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did you have her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe said the baby was supposed to be transferred.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTransferred where?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t tell me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the envelope?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Cody tell you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe saw you give someone money.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t my money.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose was it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hospital administrator\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
My skin prickled.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe gave me the envelope.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo pay someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan\u2019s voice dropped.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo keep quiet.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt dizzy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Maisie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before I could respond, there was a knock at the front door.<\/p>\n
Three slow knocks.<\/p>\n
Nolan froze.<\/p>\n
Cody whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe woman from the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n
The knocking came again.<\/p>\n
Three times.<\/p>\n
Nolan stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cJenna, don\u2019t open that door.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause if it\u2019s who I think it is\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t finish.<\/p>\n
The door handle began to turn.<\/p>\n
And then a woman\u2019s voice came from the other side.<\/p>\n
\u201cJenna?\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew that voice.<\/p>\n
I had heard it before.<\/p>\n
At the hospital.<\/p>\n
The night Maisie was born.<\/p>\n
My hand went to my mouth.<\/p>\n
Because suddenly I remembered something I had spent two weeks trying not to remember.<\/p>\n
A nurse leaning over me.<\/p>\n
A frightened expression.<\/p>\n
And one sentence whispered before everything went black:<\/p>\n
\u201cYour baby is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Nolan.<\/p>\n
He looked terrified.<\/p>\n
Then the woman outside spoke again.<\/p>\n
\u201cJenna, you need to let me in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her voice broke.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause your daughter is alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t move.<\/p>\n
The words seemed to hang in the hallway.<\/p>\n
Your daughter is alive.<\/p>\n
Cody\u2019s fingers tightened around mine.<\/p>\n
Nolan stood completely still.<\/p>\n
Then he whispered:<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t open the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew she might be alive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t know what to believe.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped toward the door.<\/p>\n
Nolan grabbed my wrist.<\/p>\n
\u201cJenna, please.\u201d<\/p>\n
I pulled away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf there is even a one-percent chance that our daughter is alive, I\u2019m opening that door.\u201d<\/p>\n
I unlocked it.<\/p>\n
The woman standing outside looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
She was perhaps in her fifties, wearing a plain coat, her hair pulled back, her eyes swollen from crying.<\/p>\n
I recognized her immediately.<\/p>\n
She was the nurse from the hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarianne?\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I come in?\u201d<\/p>\n
I stepped aside.<\/p>\n
She entered.<\/p>\n
The moment she saw Cody, she covered her mouth.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cody stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou remember me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She knelt in front of him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shouldn\u2019t have seen what you saw.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been trying to find the courage to tell you the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
My voice shook.<\/p>\n
\u201cStart talking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marianne looked at Nolan.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw her after she was born?\u201d Cody nodded. \u201cBefore they took you away.\u201d I felt the blood drain from my face. \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d He climbed off … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3333,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,21,22,1,5,20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aita","category-daily-article","category-reddit-stories","category-story","category-story-daily","category-viral-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8115,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8112\/revisions\/8115"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextstoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}