Chapter 3 - The Nurse Who Saw Everything
A nurse named Mallory entered a few minutes later.
She was probably in her late fifties, with kind eyes and a calm voice that made every room feel safer.
She immediately sensed the tension.
“How is our little girl doing?” she asked.
I looked at Bennett.
He looked toward the door.
“She is doing perfectly,” I answered.
Mallory checked the baby’s breathing, adjusted the blanket, and then turned toward Bennett.
“Would Dad like to hold her now?”
He did not move.
“No,” he said. “I have a meeting.”
Mallory’s expression changed slightly, but she remained professional.
“Of course.”
Bennett picked up his coat.
Before leaving, he looked at me as though he expected some final appeal.
“We will discuss the house and finances after you are discharged.”
“The house?”
“There will need to be changes.”
I studied his face.
Our home had belonged to my family long before I met him. My grandfather had purchased the property decades earlier, and my mother had transferred it into a protected family trust after my father passed away.
Bennett knew this.
Or at least, he thought he knew enough.
“Go to your meeting,” I said.
He stared at me for a moment.
Then he left without looking at his daughter again.
Mallory waited until the door closed.
She pulled the chair closer to my bed and sat down.
“Do you have someone you trust who can come here?”
I nodded.
“My uncle.”
“Call him.”
I looked at my sleeping daughter.
“I think my husband believes I have no one.”
May you like
Mallory’s voice became firm.
“Then today may be the day he learns otherwise.”
