Chapter 9: The Morning After the Baby Shower
She slept in the guest room that night.
Her Father slept on the sofa downstairs.
He didn't ask permission.
He simply didn't leave.
In the morning, she woke before anyone else and sat at the kitchen table with a glass of water and her hand resting on her stomach.
The baby moved.
A slow, rolling shift.
She pressed her palm flat and waited.
The baby moved again.
"I know," she said quietly.
"I know."
Roy called at eight-thirty.
"Dr.
Harlan's office received a formal complaint notification this morning," he said.
"From the medical board.
It was filed last night."
She set her glass down.
"That was fast."
"I have a colleague who handles licensing complaints.
She owed me a favor." A pause.
"Dr.
Harlan called my office at seven forty-five.
He'd like to speak with us."
"He's scared."
"Very," Roy said.
"His attorney is already asking what kind of cooperation might be relevant to the board's timeline."
She looked out the kitchen window.
The garden was ordinary.
Neat hedges.
A bird on the fence.
"What does that mean for us?"
"It means that the falsified records will be corrected.
It means his notes will reflect what he actually observed at those appointments." Roy paused again.
"It means there will be a paper trail that your husband cannot explain away."
She exhaled.
"And my husband?"
"His attorney called me this morning as well.
He's proposing a private settlement.
No proceedings.
He's suggesting your husband will agree to a separation, full medical access for the remainder of the pregnancy, and a financial arrangement."
"He wants it quiet."
"He wants it gone," Roy said.
"There's a difference.
Quiet means he controls the story.
Gone means he's afraid of what happens if he doesn't."
She was quiet for a moment.
"What do you think I should do?"
"I think you should talk to your Father," Roy said.
"And then I think you should tell me what you want.
Not what's easiest.
What you want."
She thanked him and set the phone down.
Her Father appeared in the doorway a few minutes later, still in yesterday's clothes, carrying two cups of coffee.
He set one in front of her without asking if she wanted it.
He sat down.
"Roy called you too?" she said.
"He did."
She wrapped both hands around the mug.
"He wants to settle."
"I know."
"If I settle, it's over faster.
The baby comes into a quieter situation."
Her Father looked at his coffee.
"That's one way to see it."
"What's the other way?"
He looked up.
"The other way is that a man who coordinated with a doctor to hide what he did to you walks away from it with a financial arrangement and a quiet story."
She nodded slowly.
"What would you do?" she asked.
He was quiet for a long moment.
"I would do whatever kept you and that baby safe," he said.
"And then, once you were safe, I would make sure the truth was somewhere it couldn't be buried."
She looked at her hands.
"I want to proceed," she said.
"Not just the separation.
I want the medical board complaint to continue.
I want Dr.
Harlan on record.
I want it documented."
May you like
Her Father nodded once.
"Then that's what we do," he said.
