My cheek throbbed.
My head hurt.
And now that the danger was gone, my body finally understood how frightened I had been.
Daniel wrapped his arms around me carefully.
“I’m here.”
I buried my face against him.
“She had him.”
“I know.”
“She actually had him.”
“I know.”
“What if Mike hadn’t come?”
“Elena.”
“What if she had gotten into the elevator?”
“She didn’t.”
“But what if—”
“She didn’t.”
He pressed his forehead against mine.
“She didn’t.”
I breathed.
Once.
Twice.
Again.
A nurse took Leo while another took Luna.
For the first time since the confrontation began, I allowed someone else to hold them.
A doctor entered.
Then another nurse.
My incision needed to be checked because I had lunged from the bed.
My blood pressure was elevated.
The side of my face was swelling.
They wanted imaging because my head had struck the rail.
As the medical team worked, Chief Mike remained near the doorway.
Eventually I noticed him.
“Mike.”
“Yes, Your Honor?”
I almost laughed.
“Please don’t call me that while I’m wearing this gown.”
For the first time, he smiled.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Better.”
He stepped closer.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For hesitating.”
I knew exactly what he meant.
When he entered, he had looked at Mrs. Sterling.
Then at me.
He had almost believed her.
“It lasted three seconds.”
“Three seconds can matter.”
“Yes.”
He looked uncomfortable.
“She said postpartum psychosis. You were bleeding. The baby was screaming. We entered expecting an unstable patient.”
“I understand.”
“But we should have assessed before reaching for anything.”
I studied him.
Most people defend themselves when they’re embarrassed.
Mike didn’t.
That mattered.
“Then make sure your team learns from it.”
He nodded.
“We will.”
“Good.”
He turned to leave.
“Mike?”
He looked back.
“Thank you for recognizing me.”
His expression softened.
“I recognized you because you sentenced the man who killed my brother.”
Daniel looked at him.
I stared.
Mike continued.
“Eight years ago.”
Then I remembered.
A drunk-driving case.
A twenty-three-year-old victim.
A courtroom packed with family.
A brother in uniform sitting in the back row.
“You were there.”
“Every day.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So am I.”
He nodded toward Leo and Luna.
“But today I’m glad I was here.”
Then he left.
I thought that was the end of the surprises.
I was wrong.
Because thirty minutes later, while Daniel was holding Luna and I was trying to drink water without shaking, two men entered the room.
One was the hospital administrator.
The other was someone I knew very well.
“Richard?”
District Attorney Richard Hale closed the door behind him.
“Elena.”
Daniel groaned.
“Oh, this cannot be good.”
Richard looked at my face.
His expression hardened.
“I heard.”
“Apparently everybody heard.”
“The maternity ward is difficult to keep secrets in when four guards and two police officers arrive.”
The hospital administrator looked mortified.
“Judge Vance, on behalf of St. Jude’s—”
“Please.”
I lifted a hand.
“This wasn’t the hospital’s fault.”
He hesitated.
“That may not be entirely accurate.”
Daniel looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
The administrator placed a folder on the table.
“We reviewed the access log.”
I felt cold.
“What access log?”
“The maternity floor.”
Richard answered.
“Your mother-in-law didn’t walk in by accident.”
Daniel stared.
“What?”
The administrator continued.
“She had authorization.”
My pulse quickened.
“From whom?”
He looked toward the door.
Then back at me.
“One of our employees.”
Daniel stood.
“Who?”
“An admissions supervisor named Melissa Grant.”
I frowned.
I didn’t know the name.
Richard did.
I could tell immediately.
“Melissa Grant?” he repeated.
“Yes.”
Richard looked at me.
“Do you know who she is?”
“No.”
“She used to work for your mother-in-law.”
Daniel slowly lowered Luna into her bassinet.
“What?”
Richard nodded.
“Sterling Foundation. Seven years.”
My skin prickled.
The hospital administrator opened the folder.
“Mrs. Sterling was listed as an approved visitor.”
“I never approved her.”
“Neither did your husband.”
Daniel looked furious.
“Then who did?”
“Ms. Grant entered the authorization manually.”
Richard asked, “And the room number?”
“Also provided by Ms. Grant.”
The room went silent.
I stared at the administrator.
“Was my medical information accessed?”
His expression told me everything before he answered.
“We’re investigating.”
“Was it?”
“Yes.”
Daniel swore.
“What information?”
“Delivery schedule. Room assignment. Medication chart.”
Medication.
The message.
She’ll be medicated after surgery.
My stomach dropped.
Richard saw my expression.
“That changes things.”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
Mrs. Sterling hadn’t merely planned around information she happened to know.
Someone inside the hospital had been feeding it to her.
“How much did Melissa receive?” I asked.
The administrator blinked.
“We don’t know that money was exchanged.”
“Check.”
Richard nodded.
“We will.”
Daniel sat beside me.
“This is insane.”
I looked at him.
“No.”
He frowned.
“It’s organized.”
That was worse.
Richard pulled up a chair.
“Elena, I need to ask you something uncomfortable.”
“Go ahead.”
“Why didn’t your husband’s family know you were a judge?”
Daniel and I exchanged a glance.
That was complicated.
“It started accidentally,” I said.
“When Elena and I met,” Daniel explained, “she was between appointments.”
Richard raised an eyebrow.
“That makes it sound like you were unemployed.”
“That’s what Mom assumed.”
I continued.
“And Daniel corrected her.”
“At first,” Daniel said.
I looked at him.
He smiled sheepishly.
“Once.”
“Twice.”
“Fine. Twice.”
Richard almost smiled.
“But she never believed me. Mom decided Elena was lying.”
“And eventually,” I said, “I stopped caring.”
That wasn’t entirely true.
At first, I had cared very much.
The first time Mrs. Sterling called me a gold digger, I went home and cried.
The second time, I defended myself.
The third time, I realized she wasn’t interested in facts.
She needed me to be beneath her.
My career wouldn’t have changed that.
It would merely have changed the weapon she used.
So I stopped explaining.
I attended family dinners in ordinary clothes.
I didn’t discuss cases.
I didn’t mention colleagues.
When Mrs. Sterling bragged about knowing a city councilman, I smiled.
When she explained the legal system incorrectly, I let her.
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