Chapter 6: The Baby They Said Was Mine
For several seconds, I couldn't understand what the woman had said.
The rain tapped against the awning. Cars hissed along the wet street. Somewhere behind me, Samantha was crying, but the sound seemed to come from another world.
"They switched the babies?"" I repeated.
Dr. Rebecca Collins nodded.
"I know how this sounds.""
"No," I said.
"You don't know how this sounds.""
My hands shook so violently that the envelope slipped against my palm.
"You can't walk up to me and tell me that my entire life was a mistake.""
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears.
"I am not saying your life was a mistake. I'm saying a terrible thing happened at the hospital, and the truth was concealed.""
My father stepped between us.
"Dr. Collins, if what you're saying is true, you need to explain everything. Right now.""
She looked at him.
"Daniel, I understand your anger.""
"Don't tell me you understand anything. Start talking.""
Rebecca nodded slowly.
"I was a junior nurse at St. Mary's Hospital twenty-two years ago. Elena Carter gave birth to a baby girl shortly before midnight. Another woman delivered a baby girl in a different room that same evening.""
My throat tightened.
"Who was the other woman?""
Rebecca looked toward Victoria.
Victoria took a step backward.
"No.""
Rebecca's voice trembled.
"Her name was Victoria Reed.""
The world seemed to stop.
I looked at Victoria.
She shook her head violently.
"This is a lie.""
Rebecca didn't look away.
"Both babies were healthy. The hospital was understaffed that night, and there was confusion during a transfer between the maternity ward and the nursery.""
Dad's voice turned icy.
"Are you claiming two newborn babies were accidentally switched?""
"That was the initial explanation.""
"Initial?""
Rebecca swallowed.
"Later evidence suggested the switch was not accidental.""
Victoria made a strangled sound.
"Stop talking.""
Rebecca continued.
"Elena discovered inconsistencies in the hospital records when she returned for a follow-up appointment. She had noticed a discrepancy in the newborn identification paperwork. She asked questions, and eventually, she contacted me.""
I could barely breathe.
"What did she find?""
Rebecca looked at me.
"She believed the baby she had taken home was not the baby she had delivered.""
My father gripped my shoulder.
"Emily is Elena's biological daughter.""
Rebecca lowered her eyes.
"I cannot confirm that without a proper medical and legal review. But Elena believed the babies had been switched, and she spent years trying to understand how it happened.""
I stared at her.
"Then who was I?""
Rebecca's lips trembled.
"That is what the records should establish.""
"Should?""
"I kept copies of some documents. I shouldn't have. I was frightened, and I didn't know whom to trust.""
Dad's voice rose.
"You kept hospital records for twenty-two years and never told anyone?""
"I tried to report the irregularities. My supervisor told me the records had already been corrected. When I questioned that explanation, I was threatened with losing my job.""
"So you did nothing?""
Rebecca flinched.
"At the time, I was young and terrified. I convinced myself that someone higher up would investigate.""
"And when no one did?""
She began crying.
"I told myself it was too late.""
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to grab the envelope and tear it apart.
I wanted to return to the life I had known an hour earlier, when my biggest problem was a ruined graduation dress and a stepsister who had finally gone too far.
Instead, I stood in the rain, wondering whether the woman whose face I remembered from every childhood photograph was my biological mother.
I looked at Dad.
He was staring at Rebecca with an expression I had never seen before.
"Did Elena know?"" he asked.
Rebecca nodded.
"She suspected the truth. She never had enough proof to establish it conclusively.""
"Why didn't she tell me?""
"She was afraid that if she accused the wrong person, she could lose the only child she had raised.""
I shook my head.
"That doesn't make sense. If she thought there had been a switch, why would she keep it secret?""
Rebecca looked at me sadly.
"Because the hospital records were incomplete. She was also told that the other baby had died shortly after birth.""
Victoria covered her mouth.
Dad turned toward her.
"You knew?""
Victoria said nothing.
"Victoria!""
She began shaking her head.
"I didn't know what to believe.""
Rebecca looked at her.
"You knew enough to ask me to change the records.""
The accusation fell into the night.
I felt my knees weaken.
Dad caught my arm.
"What records?"" he demanded.
Rebecca opened the envelope she had brought.
Inside were photocopies of hospital documents, a handwritten statement, and a small photograph of two newborns lying in separate bassinets.
The date was printed across the bottom.
The night I was born.
Rebecca pointed to a page.
"This is the original nursery log. Both babies were assigned identification numbers. But the numbers recorded on the discharge paperwork were reversed.""
Dad stared at the page.
"Who changed them?""
Rebecca's eyes moved toward Victoria.
"I believe she knows.""
Victoria looked as though she might faint.
"That's not true.""
"Then explain why your signature appears on the authorization request.""
Rebecca handed Dad another document.
He examined it.
Then his face changed.
"Victoria, you signed a hospital access form?""
"I was the mother of one of the babies!""
"That doesn't answer the question.""
She began crying harder.
"I was told there had been a problem with the paperwork.""
"By whom?""
"I don't remember!""
Rebecca spoke quietly.
"You remember. You asked me to make sure the baby you took home remained registered under your name.""
Samantha stared at her mother.
"Mom?""
Victoria shook her head.
"Don't listen to her.""
"Mom, what is she talking about?""
"She is trying to destroy us!""
Rebecca's face crumpled.
"I have spent twenty-two years trying to find the courage to tell the truth. I am not here to destroy anyone.""
Victoria pointed at her.
"You're lying because you want money!""
Rebecca shook her head.
"I brought the records because Elena asked me to keep them safe.""
At the mention of my mother's name, I looked down at the letter in my hand.
Ask her what happened on the night you were born.
Mom had known.
Maybe not everything.
But enough to fear that one day the truth would surface.
I turned toward Victoria.
"Who is my biological mother?""
She looked at me.
Her mouth opened.
Then she looked at Rebecca.
Then at my father.
Finally, she whispered, "I don't know.""
I recoiled.
"You don't know?""
"I was told the babies had been switched. I was told the records were wrong. I didn't know which baby was mine.""
Rebecca's expression hardened.
"You knew which child you had taken home.""
Victoria began sobbing.
"I was a young mother! I was scared!""
"And Elena was a young mother, too," Rebecca replied.
"She was trying to protect her daughter.""
Victoria covered her face.
Dad took a step away from her.
"How long have you known about the possible switch?""
"Years.""
"How many?""
She didn't answer.
"Victoria!""
"Since Samantha was fourteen!""
The words rang through the street.
Samantha went completely still.
"What?""
Victoria looked at her daughter.
"I found out when you were a teenager. Someone contacted me. They said there had been an error at the hospital and that a child might have been sent home with the wrong family.""
Samantha stared at her.
"You knew I might not be your biological daughter?""
Victoria's face twisted.
"I didn't know for certain!""
"Did you tell me?""
"No.""
"Did you tell Daniel?""
"No.""
Samantha stepped backward.
For the first time, I saw the same disbelief on her face that I felt inside myself.
Two women stood in front of us, each confronting the possibility that the story of her birth had been built on a lie.
But there was one crucial difference.
I had not spent the past three years using another person's grief to justify cruelty.
I had not destroyed a dress.
I had not tried to take money from an inheritance.
And I had not stolen a notebook because I thought I was entitled to someone else's life.
"Why didn't you tell me?"" Samantha whispered.
Victoria reached for her.
"Because I was afraid of losing you.""
Samantha pulled away.
"You lied to me my entire life!""
"I was protecting you.""
"From what? Knowing who I am?""
Victoria had no answer.
Dr. Collins stepped forward.
"I brought one more document.""
She handed Dad a sealed folder.
"Elena asked me to keep this with the other records. She believed that if she ever died before the matter was resolved, the documents should be given to you.""
Dad opened the folder.
Inside was a letter addressed to him.
His hands began to shake as he read it.
I watched his face, searching for some indication of what Mom had written.
Finally, he looked up.
"Elena wrote this two weeks before she died.""
He passed the letter to me.
I unfolded it.
Daniel,
If you're reading this, I have run out of time.
I have tried to discover the truth about Emily's birth, but the hospital has refused to provide the original records. I have reason to believe the mistake was not an accident.
There is another child, a little girl who may have been born to Victoria Reed. I do not know where she is, and I do not know whether she is alive.
If the truth comes out after I'm gone, please remember that the child you raised is innocent. Do not let anyone turn her into a weapon against you.
And please, Daniel, protect Emily. Not because she belongs to me, but because she deserves to know who she is.
I could barely see through my tears.
Mom had known I might one day face this moment.
She had tried to leave me a path toward the truth.
And someone had buried it.
I looked at Victoria.
"Did you know Mom had written this?""
She shook her head.
"Not that letter.""
"But you knew she suspected the switch.""
"Yes.""
"Did you know where the other baby went?""
Victoria began to tremble.
Rebecca stepped closer.
"Victoria, the time for hiding is over.""
For several seconds, Victoria stared at the wet pavement.
Then she whispered, "I received a letter from the hospital.""
Dad's voice was barely audible.
"When?""
"Three months after the births.""
"What did it say?""
She looked at me.
"It said the records had been corrected and that the matter was closed.""
"That isn't what I asked.""
Victoria's eyes filled with tears.
"It said the other baby had been transferred to another family.""
My heart hammered.
"Which family?""
She shook her head.
"I don't know.""
Rebecca looked shocked.
"Victoria, that isn't true. The transfer records show the baby was discharged to a woman named Margaret Ellis.""
The name hit me like a blow.
Margaret.
My mother's designer friend.
The woman who had completed my graduation dress.
The woman who had preserved my mother's sketches.
The woman who had called us that evening to ask about the missing notebook.
I turned toward Dad.
"Margaret knew?""
He stared at me.
"I don't know.""
My phone vibrated again.
Another message from the unknown number.
This time, it contained a photograph of a handwritten note.
I recognized the signature immediately.
Margaret Ellis.
The note read:
Emily is not the child you think she is. If Victoria discovers what happened to the second baby, she will destroy the only evidence that remains.
Below it was a date from six months earlier.
And beneath the date, one final sentence:
The biological daughter of Elena Carter is alive, and she has been living closer to Emily than anyone realizes.
I stared at the screen.
Then I looked up at the woman who had spent three years living in my father's house.
Victoria was staring at the same message.
And she was smiling.
May you like
Not because she was relieved.
Because she knew exactly who the other daughter was.
