Chapter 7: The Hallway
I got to the hospital in eleven minutes.
Teresa was in the hallway outside Frederick's room.
She was dressed carefully — the same composed, deliberate way she always dressed when she wanted to be taken seriously.
She had a folder under her arm.
The same kind of folder Mason had tried to carry out of my house the night before.
Two nurses stood near the door.
A hospital administrator in a gray blazer was speaking to Teresa in a low, careful voice.
Amy was inside the room with Frederick.
I could see her through the window.
She was standing, not sitting.
Her arms were crossed.
Her eyes were on the door.
Teresa saw me coming down the hallway.
Her expression didn't change.
"Connor.
Good.
Tell them who I am."
"I know exactly who you are," I said.
"That's why I'm here."
The administrator turned to me.
"Sir, are you the father?"
"I am.
Connor Hale.
This is my son's room." I looked at Teresa.
"She does not have authority to make any decisions regarding my son or my property.
Her power of attorney is a forged document.
Our attorney has already contacted your legal department."
Teresa's chin lifted.
"That is a legal document, Connor.
Prepared by a licensed attorney."
"An attorney who is currently under investigation for deed fraud."
Something moved behind her eyes.
Not fear — not yet.
Recalculation.
"You're going to regret this," she said quietly.
"I am trying to protect this family.
I have always been trying to protect this family.
Amy has never been good for you.
She isolated you from us.
She turned you against your own blood."
"Amy was in your kitchen holding a sick baby with one hand and washing your dishes with the other," I said.
"While you stood in my living room telling twenty relatives that my money was yours."
"I raised you."
"You did.
And I was grateful for that for a long time." I kept my voice level.
"But you don't get to use that as a reason to take my house, forge my name, and try to take my son."
She stepped closer.
Her voice dropped.
"Drop this now, Connor.
Walk away from the lawyers and the police and come home.
I will make this right.
We are family.
That means something."
"It does mean something," I said.
"That's why I can't let this go."
She stared at me for a long moment.
Then she looked at the administrator.
Then at the nurses.
Then back at me.
"You'll lose everything trying to fight me," she said.
"Then I'll lose it," I said.
"But I won't lose them."
The administrator stepped forward.
"Ma'am, I've just received confirmation from our legal department.
We cannot honor this document.
I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
Teresa didn't move immediately.
She held my gaze for three more seconds — long enough to make sure I felt it.
Then she turned and walked down the hallway.
At the far end, before she pushed through the door, she stopped.
She didn't turn around.
"Gerald warned me you'd do this," she said.
"He said you were more like your father than I wanted to admit."
The door swung shut behind her.
I stood in the hallway and let the quiet settle.
Then I pushed open Frederick's door and went in.
Amy looked at me.
"Is she gone?"
"She's gone."
Frederick was awake, sitting up against the pillow, holding a small plastic toy a nurse had given him.
He looked at me with his father's eyes and held the toy out like an offering.
I sat on the edge of the bed and took it from him.
"Hey, buddy," I said.
He made a sound that wasn't quite a word yet and grabbed my finger instead.
Amy sat beside me.
Neither of us spoke for a moment.
"She mentioned Fitch," I said.
"Before she left.
She said he warned her I'd fight back."
Amy looked at me.
"So he's not out of the country."
May you like
"No," I said.
"He's not."
