Chapter 6: The Mother Who Never Stopped Looking
I couldn't answer Catherine.
I stood in the hallway with the phone pressed against my ear, listening to a stranger cry on the other end of the line.
A stranger who might have been another victim of my family.
A stranger who had spent seventeen years believing her daughter was dead.
And a stranger who had just told me something that could change everything I thought I knew about myself.
“Emily?”” Catherine whispered.
“Are you still there?””
“Yes.””
“I'm sorry. I know this is a terrible thing to hear from someone you don't know.””
I looked at my mother.
Laura was sitting on the sofa with her face buried in her hands.
“No,” I said.
“It's not your fault.””
The words surprised me.
I didn't know Catherine. I didn't know whether she was telling the truth. But I knew what it felt like to have your world collapse because someone else had decided you couldn't handle the truth.
“Where are you?”” I asked.
“Pennsylvania. Outside Harrisburg.””
“Why did you call me?””
“Because I received a message with your photograph. It said your birthday was really October 19, 2009.””
I looked at Rebecca.
She was watching me carefully.
“Who sent it?””
“I don't know. The message came from an unlisted number. There was a photograph of you standing outside a school, and another of a woman named Elena Hayes.””
My throat tightened.
“What did the message say?””
Catherine inhaled shakily.
“It said, ‘The girl you buried may never have been yours, but the girl you lost is still alive.’”
I closed my eyes.
Behind me, my father said, “Hang up.””
I turned toward him.
He was standing in the living room doorway, his face pale.
I covered the phone.
“You don't get to tell me what to do.””
“Emily, you have no idea who you're talking to.””
“I know she's a woman who lost her baby.””
“You don't know anything about her.””
“Neither do you, apparently.””
He stepped forward.
I moved away from him.
On the phone, Catherine whispered, “Is someone there with you?””
“Yes.””
“Michael Carter?””
I stared at my father.
“How do you know his name?””
There was a long silence.
Then Catherine said, “Because he visited me the morning after my daughter died.””
My father stopped moving.
Catherine continued.
“He told me there had been a terrible mistake. He said the hospital had found another baby who needed a family, and that I could help by agreeing to a private arrangement.””
Rebecca gasped.
Daniel turned toward Michael.
“You offered Catherine a child?””
Michael's face hardened.
“She was grieving. She didn't understand what she was signing.””
Catherine heard him.
“I understood perfectly well, Mr. Carter.””
My father stared at the phone.
“I was trying to help you.””
“No,” Catherine replied.
“You were trying to silence me.””
I felt my fingers tighten around the device.
“Catherine, what happened that morning?””
She took a shaky breath.
“I was told my daughter had died at 12:06 a.m. I was exhausted and heavily medicated. I remember asking to see her. The nurse told me they needed to prepare her body first.””
Rebecca looked down.
Catherine continued.
“Hours later, Michael came into my room. He said he had a solution. He said another woman had given birth to a healthy baby but couldn't keep her. He told me that if I agreed to take the baby, I could still be a mother.””
My stomach twisted.
“Did you agree?””
“No. I told him I wanted my own daughter. I wanted to see her body.
I wanted a funeral. I wanted proof that she had really died.””
Her voice cracked.
“He told me I was being unreasonable. He said my grief was making me confused.””
I looked at my father.
He was staring at the carpet.
“Then what happened?”” I asked.
“Two days later, the hospital released my daughter's remains. I buried her. But something had bothered me from the beginning.
Her hospital bracelet had been replaced. The nurse who brought her to me wouldn't look at me.””
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.
“I remember you,” she whispered.
Catherine heard her.
“Rebecca?””
“Yes.””
“You were there?””
Rebecca nodded, then seemed to remember Catherine couldn't see her.
“Yes. I was there.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
Rebecca began crying.
“Because I was afraid. Michael threatened to have me arrested. He said I had mishandled the records and that no one would believe me.””
Catherine's breathing grew uneven.
“I spent years thinking I was going crazy. I knew something was wrong, but everyone told me to move on. I stopped trusting my own memories.””
I felt a tear slide down my cheek.
“I'm sorry,” I whispered.
“Don't apologize, Emily. You were a baby.””
The kindness in her voice hurt more than anger would have.
I had spent the night hearing people explain why they had done terrible things because they were afraid.
Catherine had been afraid, too.
But she hadn't used her fear as an excuse to steal another person's life.
She had simply lived with her loss.
“Can you come here?”” I asked.
My father stepped forward.
“No.””
I ignored him.
“Catherine, can you come to our house?””
“Yes,” she said immediately.
“I can leave tonight.””
“Wait.”” I glanced at Rebecca.
“Do you have anything that can prove what happened?””
“I have a hospital report, a copy of the original death certificate, and a letter I received from a former administrator.””
“What does the letter say?””
“That the baby identified as mine was never genetically tested. It also says the original records were altered after the fact.””
My father suddenly moved toward the phone.
“Give it to me.””
I pulled it away.
“Don't.””
He stopped.
For the first time in my life, I could see how frightened he was of me.
Not because I was strong.
Because I had become someone he couldn't control.
Catherine continued.
“Emily, there's something else you need to know. A few months ago, I hired a private investigator to look into the hospital records. He found a woman who had worked at St. Mary's in 2009.””
“Rebecca?””
“No. Someone else.””
Rebecca looked up sharply.
“Who?””
Catherine hesitated.
“A records clerk named Patricia Wells. She retired years ago. She told the investigator that two men came to the hospital the night Elena died.””
Daniel frowned.
“Two men?””
“Yes. One was Michael Carter.””
My father closed his eyes.
“And the other?”” I asked.
Catherine's voice dropped.
“Daniel Hayes.””
I turned toward Daniel.
He looked as though the floor had disappeared beneath him.
“What?”” he whispered.
Catherine continued.
“Patricia said you both entered through the emergency department. She said you were carrying a bag. She couldn't see what was inside, but she remembered that you argued with Michael near the nursery.””
Daniel shook his head.
“No. I was there because Elena called me.””
“Did you bring a bag?”” I asked.
“I brought her clothes. I thought she might need them.””
“Did you go into the nursery?””
He didn't answer.
I took a step toward him.
“Daniel?””
He looked at me, his eyes shining.
“Yes.””
My stomach dropped.
“What did you do?””
“I was trying to find Elena's baby.””
“Why?””
“Because I knew Michael was planning to take you.””
“Then why didn't you stop him?””
Daniel's face crumpled.
“Because I was too late.””
My mother looked up.
“Daniel, please.””
He turned toward her.
“You don't get to tell me to stop talking. Not anymore.””
He looked back at me.
“When I arrived at the hospital, Elena was in surgery. I was told the baby had been moved to the nursery. Michael said he would take me to see her, but instead he led me into a storage room.””
“Why?””
“He said Elena had changed her mind. He said she wanted you to be raised by Laura and him. I didn't believe him, so I tried to leave.””
“What happened?””
Daniel looked down at his hands.
“Michael attacked me.””
My father lunged toward him.
“That's a lie!””
Daniel stepped back.
“You broke two of my ribs, Michael. I spent three days in a hospital bed. You told the police I had fallen down the stairs.””
I stared at Michael.
He said nothing.
Daniel continued.
“When I woke up, Elena was dead. You told me she had suffered a sudden complication and that her baby hadn't survived.””
My eyes filled with tears.
“You believed him?””
“I was in pain, Emily. I was confused. And I had no reason to believe my own brother-in-law would steal his niece.””
“You weren't my uncle.””
Daniel nodded slowly.
“No. I wasn't.””
The words seemed to hurt him.
“I should have questioned everything. I should have searched for you. But Michael showed me a death certificate, and I believed him.””
I looked at my father.
“How did you get Daniel to believe I was dead?””
Michael's voice was barely audible.
“I told him the truth about the baby who died.””
The room went still.
Daniel turned toward him.
“What?””
“The infant at the hospital died. That part was true.””
Rebecca stood abruptly.
“But that infant wasn't Emily.””
Michael looked away.
I felt sick.
He had used one dead baby to cover up the disappearance of another.
And everyone had been so consumed by grief, fear, or shame that he had managed to make the lie last seventeen years.
My phone vibrated again.
Catherine was still on the line.
“Emily,” she said quietly, “I need to ask you something.””
“What?””
“Have you ever had a medical test that involved blood typing?””
I frowned.
“When I was twelve, I had surgery for a broken wrist. Why?””
“Do you remember what blood type they recorded?””
“No.””
Catherine hesitated.
“My daughter had a rare blood type. AB negative. The hospital report says the baby who died that night had O positive blood.””
Rebecca went pale.
“That would be impossible if the records were accurate.””
Catherine's voice trembled.
“That's why I never stopped searching.””
I looked at the birth certificate in my hand.
For seventeen years, I had been Emily Carter, daughter of Michael and Laura Carter.
But the hospital bracelet said Emily Hayes.
The original birth certificate said Elena Hayes was my mother.
And now Catherine Brooks believed that the baby she had buried wasn't the daughter she had delivered.
I looked at Rebecca.
“Can we get a DNA test?””
“Yes,” she said.
“But there's something you should know first.””
I waited.
Rebecca took a folded sheet from her notebook.
“This is a copy of the original laboratory report from the hospital. It was filed under a different patient number, but I recognized the handwriting.””
She placed it on the table.
The report listed two blood samples.
One belonged to Elena Hayes.
The other belonged to a newborn girl.
Beside the baby's sample was a handwritten notation.
*Maternal match confirmed.*
Underneath it, someone had written a second line.
*Additional test requested by Daniel Hayes.*
Daniel stared at the paper.
“I never requested a test.””
Rebecca looked at him.
“Then someone used your name.””
My father took one step backward.
I watched him carefully.
He looked at the report as if he had seen a ghost.
“Dad,” I whispered.
“What does it mean?””
He didn't answer.
Rebecca turned the paper over.
On the back was a second laboratory note, written three days after Elena's death.
Results withheld pending legal review.
And beneath that note was the signature of the hospital administrator who had amended my birth certificate.
The same administrator who had been paid twelve thousand dollars.
The same man who had approved the canceled genetic test.
I looked at my father.
“Who was he?””
Michael's lips trembled.
Then he said a name.
“Arthur Bennett.””
Daniel stared at him.
“Your attorney?””
My father nodded.
And suddenly, the room felt colder.
Because if my father's lawyer had helped change the records, then the lies hadn't stopped at the hospital doors.
They had been planned.
They had been protected.
And someone had spent seventeen years making sure no one could prove what really happened to Elena Hayes.
Catherine's voice came softly through the phone.
“Emily, I'm coming to see you. But there's something the investigator discovered that I haven't told you yet.””
I pressed the phone closer to my ear.
“What?””
“He found a payment made the week you were born. It was sent from Michael Carter's private account to a woman who worked in the hospital nursery.””
My father closed his eyes.
Catherine whispered the final words.
“The woman's name was Laura Carter.””
I stared at my mother.
She looked up at me through her tears.
And then she said something that made the entire story shift beneath my feet.
“I didn't pay anyone to give me a baby, Emily.””
May you like
She swallowed hard.
“I paid someone to make sure the baby who died was never identified.””
