Chapter 15 - SOMEONE WAS WATCHING
Security immediately moved us back inside.
My pulse exploded.
"Where is she?"
The guard called for another officer.
The parking garage cameras were checked.
My mother's car had entered forty minutes earlier.
But the driver wasn't Mom.
It was Aunt Linda.
She had parked the vehicle and entered through another hospital entrance.
"Why?"
Nobody knew.
Then Rachel called.
"Don't leave the hospital."
"We aren't."
"Aunt Linda took Mom's car this morning."
"I know."
Rachel inhaled sharply.
"Mom told her she wanted pictures."
My blood went cold.
"What pictures?"
"Of the baby."
Anna heard.
Her face changed.
Rachel continued.
"Mom said she just wanted proof Emma was okay."
"By sending Linda to follow us?"
"I don't know."
I looked at security.
"Where is Linda?"
They found her near the maternity gift shop.
She had a phone in her hand.
Security escorted her outside.
Police took a statement.
Linda insisted she hadn't intended harm.
"I was just going to take a photograph."
I stood several feet away.
"Without our permission."
"Your mother is devastated."
"My wife is frightened."
Linda rolled her eyes.
"Everything is frightening to Anna."
I felt my anger rise.
Anna touched my arm.
I stopped.
That was the old family system trying to pull me back into chaos.
Argument.
Guilt.
Explosion.
Apology.
Repeat.
Not anymore.
I turned to Officer Harris.
"We want this documented."
Linda stared at me.
"You're calling police on me too?"
"No."
I looked directly at her.
"Your choices brought police here."
It was the first time I understood the difference.
Boundaries weren't punishment.
They were information.
If you crossed them, there were consequences.
We left through a different exit.
Luke followed us home in his car.
Rachel had already placed groceries inside.
When we reached the house, I carried Emma through the front door.
Anna stopped in the foyer.
The house looked different.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
She stood still for several seconds.
"You okay?"
She nodded.
"I think so."
Emma made a tiny sound.
Anna smiled.
Then she walked inside.
That night, we barely slept.
But it wasn't because of fear.
Emma woke every two hours.
Anna fed her.
I changed diapers.
We whispered to each other under the soft nursery light.
At 3:12 in the morning, Emma started crying.
I looked at the clock.
The exact time.
My body froze.
I remembered freezing water.
Broken porcelain.
Anna's terrified face.
Then I looked beside me.
Anna was safe.
Emma was safe.
The house was quiet.
I picked up my daughter.
"You're okay."
Maybe I was talking to her.
Maybe I was talking to myself.
Three days later, a letter arrived.
May you like
My mother's attorney had filed a petition.
She wanted legal visitation with Emma.
