Chapter 10 - THE BIRTH RECORD
Victor stared at the page.
“Finn is my son.”
“He is.”
That was not the question yet.
His attorney retrieved Finn’s archival birth records.
The certificate in Victor’s family file said:
Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
The original certified record said:
St. Catherine’s Medical Center.
Victor frowned.
“Why was it changed?”
An amendment had been requested when Finn was six weeks old.
By Elena.
Then we found a neonatal transfer record.
Finn had been born at St. Catherine’s and transferred to Northwestern because of respiratory distress.
Completely plausible.
Except another male infant had traveled in the same ambulance.
Different mother.
Different family.
The temporary transport labels read:
INFANT A
and
INFANT B.
At Northwestern, the labels had been corrected by hand.
INFANT A became:
NOAH REED.
INFANT B became:
FINN ROSSI.
Victor went white.
His attorney raised one hand.
“This does not prove a switch.”
Good.
Facts.
Not fear.
A neonatal nurse had documented that two identification bands were damaged by water during transfer.
Then:
Identity confirmation completed against maternal records.
No switch.
But the maternal file included a notation:
ROSSI INFANT MATERNAL RECORD SEALED AT MOTHER’S REQUEST.
Victor frowned.
“Elena sealed her own record?”
His attorney looked more closely.
“No.”
“What?”
“The coded field initially looked like a different maternal identity.”
My pulse changed.
“Who gave birth to Finn?”
The code read:
M.L.
Victor went pale.
But then his attorney found the legend.
M.L. did not mean maternal identity.
It meant:
Medical Liaison.
Relief hit all of us.
“And the liaison?” I asked.
She turned the page.
My breath stopped.
MARJORIE LANE.
My mother had been present when Finn was born.
Not casually.
Officially.
Role:
PATIENT ADVOCATE / EMERGENCY CONTACT.
Then another line:
SPOUSE NOT TO BE NOTIFIED UNTIL PATIENT REQUEST.
Victor stared.
“Elena told them not to call me.”
The room changed.
Then we found Elena’s handwritten instruction:
IF ANYTHING GOES WRONG, CALL MARJORIE FIRST.
VICTOR WILL TRY TO FIX EVERYTHING BEFORE HE LISTENS.
Victor closed his eyes.
Even five years earlier, Elena had known exactly what stood between Victor and the people he loved.
Control.
May you like
And then another name appeared in my mother’s notes.
Anthony Russo.
