Chapter 2 - THE WHITE PILLS
I stared at Dr. Collins.
“What medication?”
Ryan answered immediately.
“Prenatal vitamins.”
Dr. Collins did not look at him.
“I warned you.”
He lifted both hands.
“I’m trying to help.”
“No. You are trying to control the record.”
The word control changed the room.
Ryan’s smile disappeared.
Dr. Collins pulled a chair close to the examination bed and sat at my eye level.
“What pills do you take each day?”
I swallowed.
“A white prenatal vitamin in the morning. Another white pill at night.”
“What is the second one?”
Ryan said, “For nausea.”
The nurse opened the door.
“Sir, step into the hallway.”
Ryan laughed.
“No.”
Dr. Collins stood.
“You can leave voluntarily or hospital security can remove you.”
“I am her husband.”
“And she is my patient.”
He looked at me.
“Tell them you want me here.”
My stomach tightened.
It was the same command he gave without sounding like a command.
Tell them you fell.
Tell them you’re clumsy.
Tell them you forgot.
Tell them I was protecting you.
I looked at the nurse.
“Please make him leave.”
Ryan’s face went still.
The nurse stepped aside as two security officers appeared in the hallway.
Ryan pointed at me.
“She’s confused.”
Dr. Collins moved between us again.
“Out.”
The officers escorted him into the corridor.
He did not resist.
That would have ruined the performance.
As the door closed, he smiled at me.
A small, private smile.
I knew what it meant.
You will pay for this.
The lock clicked.
My body began shaking.
The nurse placed a blanket around my shoulders.
Dr. Collins opened the lab report.
“Emily, your blood contains a sedative called lorazepam.”
“I’ve never taken that.”
“The level is not therapeutic. It is repeated and irregular.”
I remembered the nightly pill.
Ryan standing beside the sink with a glass of water.
His thumb beneath my chin.
Swallow.
“Could it hurt the baby?”
“We need more tests.”
My hands flew to my stomach.
The baby moved beneath my palm.
Dr. Collins continued carefully.
“Your blood pressure is dangerously high. Your liver enzymes are elevated. Your platelet count is falling.”
“What does that mean?”
“It may indicate severe preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome.”
The words meant nothing to me.
Her face did.
Urgent.
Controlled.
Afraid without showing fear.
“Am I going to lose her?”
“We are going to do everything possible to protect both of you.”
The nurse attached the blood pressure cuff.
It tightened around my bruised arm.
I winced.
She paused.
“These marks are not from the cuff.”
“No.”
Dr. Collins looked at me.
“How did you get them?”
I opened my mouth.
My phone vibrated inside my bag.
Ryan.
Then again.
And again.
A message appeared.
TELL HER YOU FELL OR I SHOW THEM THE VIDEO.
I stopped breathing.
Dr. Collins saw my face.
“What video?”
I slowly turned the screen toward her.
Before she could read the message, Ryan deleted it remotely.
But the nurse had already taken a photograph.
Dr. Collins’ expression changed.
“What is he threatening to show us?”
May you like
I looked toward the locked door.
“A video of me hurting my baby.”
