“Mother, listen to me,” Daniel whispered, but his voice rose, carrying over the hum of the hallway ice machine. “I need you to go to the study right now.”
He turned his back to the nurse’s station, his shoulder hunched as if he could hide the words.
“Find the blue ledger under the desk,” Daniel said, his whisper turning sharp and cold. “The land acquisition files from June, all of them.”
A passing orderly pushed a metal cart of clean linens, the wheels rattling loudly against the floorboards.
“I do not care about your church circle, Mother, this is happening now,” Daniel said, his voice cracking on the last word. “Get the papers before anyone else looks at that office.”
He hung up without waiting for her reply, his hand dropping to his side. He stood there for a moment, staring at the blank screen of his phone, before he turned toward the exit doors.
I pulled the hospital sheet up to my chin, my body shivering despite the heavy air.
I had sixty-two dollars in cash hidden under the drawer liner at home, but my key to the local bank box was still in my leather purse.
The curtain rings clicked loudly against the metal rod, and Patricia stepped into the small bay. She wore her beige knit cardigan despite the midday heat, her fingers already moving over the silver beads of her rosary.
“Elena, dear,” Patricia said, her voice a soft, pious whisper that barely reached my ears. “Daniel called me from the parking lot.”
She did not look at the plastic medical tape on my arm or the dark bruising near my ribs. She sat in the vinyl chair beside my bed, her back perfectly straight.
“You must think about the girls,” Patricia whispered, her thumb sliding from one silver bead to the next. “Madison and Chloe need a stable home, and a mother who can provide for them.”
“I am their mother, Patricia,” I said, my voice quiet but tight.
“A mother without a home or an income is a very difficult thing for a judge to look at,” Patricia said, her whisper dropping even lower. “Daniel’s family built that house, and we have deep roots in this county.”
She leaned closer, the silver rosary clicking against her gold bracelet.
“If you do this, Elena, you will leave this city with absolutely nothing,” she said.
