Chapter 8: What Rebecca Did
The hospital room was dim when they finally allowed me inside.
Machines whispered beside my mother.
A clear tube ran beneath her nose.
Her face looked impossibly pale against the white pillow.
I stood in the doorway.
“Mom?””
Her eyes opened.
For a moment, she looked confused.
Then she saw me.
Her expression broke.
“Nathan.””
I stopped.
She had never called me that.
Not once.
I walked to her bedside.
“You know.””
She closed her eyes.
“Yes.””
“How long?””
Her breathing became shallow.
“All my life.””
I sat down.
“You thought I was Grant.””
“I did.””
“You were wrong.””
“I was.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
She looked toward the window.
“Because by the time I learned, I had already lost one son.””
I frowned.
“One son?””
She swallowed.
“Your father.””
I took her hand.
“Dad didn't abandon us.””
“No.””
“Did he die?””
She closed her eyes.
“I don't know.””
“What?””
“I don't know what happened to him.””
“Then why did you tell me he left?””
“Because someone told me to.””
“Who?””
Mom's fingers tightened around mine.
“Thomas Hale.””
Natalie stood behind me.
She went pale.
“Thomas?””
Mom looked at her.
“Yes.””
Natalie stepped forward.
“My father?””
“Not your biological father.””
“Then why would he tell you to lie?””
Mom's eyes filled.
“Because he knew what had happened.””
I stood.
“What did Thomas know?””
“He was involved.””
“With the baby switch?””
“Yes.””
Natalie covered her mouth.
Mom continued.
“He was the one who came to me after Daniel disappeared.””
“Why?””
“He told me Daniel was dead.””
My stomach turned.
“Did you believe him?””
“I had no reason not to.””
“What did he say?””
“That Daniel had discovered the truth and was killed before he could expose it.””
“By whom?””
Mom shook her head.
“He wouldn't tell me.””
“Then why did you trust him?””
“Because he showed me a photograph.””
“What photograph?””
“Daniel.””
She began crying.
“Your father was unconscious.””
“Where?””
“I don't know.””
“You saw it?””
“Yes.””
“Was he alive?””
“At the time.””
I felt my knees weaken.
“So Dad could still be alive?””
Mom didn't answer.
“Mom.””
“I don't know.””
Natalie stepped closer.
“Why did Thomas help you?””
Mom looked at her.
“He didn't help me.””
Her voice trembled.
“He threatened me.””
Silence.
“With what?””
“You.””
I felt cold.
“What do you mean?””
“He said if I went to the police, Nathan would disappear.””
I stared at her.
“You're saying he threatened me when I was a baby?””
“Yes.””
“Why would anyone care about me?””
“Because you were proof.””
“Proof of what?””
“That the switch happened.””
Mom looked at Natalie.
“And because Natalie was the child they wanted.””
Natalie shook her head.
“Why?””
“Because your biological mother was poor.””
Natalie's face hardened.
“That's it?””
“No.””
Mom closed her eyes.
“Your mother was dying.””
Natalie froze.
“What?””
“Susan Hale had cancer.””
“She died after I was born.””
“Yes.””
“That's what the records say.””
Mom nodded.
“But she wasn't supposed to survive the birth.””
Natalie's face drained of color.
“Who knew?””
“Thomas.””
“Why?””
“He worked for the company that owned the hospital.””
Priya, standing near the door, stepped forward.
“Thomas Hale had financial ties to St. Vincent?””
Mom nodded.
“He was part of the hospital board.””
Priya looked stunned.
“That wasn't in the records.””
“They removed it.””
I stared at my mother.
“Mom, what did Thomas want with Natalie?””
“He wanted her inheritance.””
Natalie whispered, “I didn't have an inheritance.””
“You didn't know.””
Mom looked at her.
“Your grandmother had money.””
“How much?””
“Enough to make people do terrible things.””
Natalie sank into a chair.
“What happened to it?””
“Thomas controlled the estate after Susan died.””
“But if I was Susan's daughter…”
“You were the heir.””
Natalie's eyes filled with tears.
“So he switched me?””
“No.””
Mom shook her head.
“He switched the records.””
I looked at Natalie.
“You were still raised as Susan's daughter.””
“Yes.””
“But your legal identity was altered.””
Mom nodded.
“Thomas needed you to appear unrelated to the Hale estate.””
“Why?””
“Because he was stealing from it.””
The room went silent.
Priya spoke carefully.
“Your mother wasn't trying to interfere with your marriage.””
Mom looked at her.
“I was trying to protect both of them.””
I squeezed her hand.
“Then why did you let me believe Natalie was just my wife?””
“Because I didn't know she was your sister.””
The word hit me like a gunshot.
Sister.
Natalie looked at me.
“No.””
Mom shook her head.
“No.””
My breath came back.
“You mean…”
“You are not related by blood.””
I closed my eyes.
Relief crashed over me so hard I almost cried.
Mom whispered, “Natalie is Daniel's daughter.””
“And I'm Nathan Hale.””
“Yes.””
“Then why did you raise me?””
“Because Daniel asked me to.””
I opened my eyes.
“What?””
Mom nodded.
“The night before he disappeared, he came home.””
“Why?””
“He told me someone was watching the house.””
“What did he say?””
“He said, ‘If anything happens to me, protect the boy.’”
“You.””
Mom smiled sadly.
“I didn't know which boy he meant.””
I stared at her.
“Then how did you know it was me?””
“I didn't.””
She closed her eyes.
“I thought I was protecting Grant.””
A tear slid down her cheek.
“Thirty-seven years later, I learned I had been protecting Nathan.””
I leaned closer.
“Who told you?””
“Evelyn.””
“The nurse.””
“Yes.””
“She came to me last year.””
“What did she say?””
“That she had switched the bracelets.””
“Why?””
“Because Thomas Hale paid her.””
Natalie whispered, “My grandfather?””
“No.””
Mom looked at her.
“Thomas was your legal guardian, not your grandfather.””
Natalie shook her head.
“Then who?””
Mom looked at me.
“Your grandfather.””
I felt the blood leave my face.
“Who?””
“Daniel's father.””
I froze.
“My grandfather?””
Mom nodded.
“He was the one who arranged the switch.””
Priya stepped forward.
“Why?””
Mom's eyes filled with shame.
“Because Daniel was going to expose him.””
I couldn't speak.
My grandfather had died when I was young.
I'd remembered him as a stern old man who never smiled.
A man Mom rarely mentioned.
“What was he hiding?””
Mom looked toward the door.
“Fraud.””
“What kind?””
“Your grandfather had been stealing from the Hale estate for years.””
“And Thomas?””
“Thomas helped him.””
“Then why did they need the babies switched?””
“Because Susan Hale had discovered the fraud.””
Natalie whispered, “My mother knew?””
“Yes.””
“She was going to report them.””
“Yes.””
“And they killed her?””
Mom looked away.
“I don't know.””
Natalie began crying.
“Then what happened to her?””
“I was told she died.””
“By whom?””
“Your grandfather.””
Silence filled the room.
Then Mom said something that made my blood freeze.
“He didn't know Daniel had hidden the evidence.””
I leaned forward.
“Where?””
Mom looked directly at me.
“In the one place nobody thought to search.””
“Where?””
She squeezed my hand.
“Inside your original birth records.””
I stared.
“Mom, the records are in the envelope.””
“No.””
She shook her head.
“Not those.””
“Then which ones?””
“The originals.””
“Where are they?””
Her lips trembled.
“I gave them to you.””
I frowned.
“No, you didn't.””
“Yes.””
“When?””
“The day you married Natalie.””
I felt my heart stop.
“You gave me something that day.””
She nodded.
“What?””
“The old Bible.””
I remembered it.
The leather-bound Bible Mom had handed me before the ceremony.
She had said it belonged to my grandmother.
I had put it in a box.
Mom whispered,
“Open the spine.””
My phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number.
*Do not open the Bible.*
Then another.
*Your mother is lying about who ordered the switch.*
I looked at Mom.
She had seen the message.
Her face went white.
“Too late,” she whispered.
“What?””
She gripped my wrist.
“The person who ordered the switch knows you're here.””
Then the hospital lights flickered.
May you like
A nurse shouted from the hallway.
And every monitor in my mother's room suddenly went dark.
