Chapter 6 - THE COURT ORDER
Dr. Collins read the transfer order twice.
Then she handed the phone back.
“This is fraudulent.”
The nurse shook her head.
“Legal says the signature verifies.”
Claire moved closer.
“What facility?”
“Mercy Pines Behavioral Hospital.”
My blood turned cold.
Ryan had threatened to send me there whenever I resisted him.
He said pregnant women could still be committed if they were dangerous.
Dr. Collins looked at me.
“Have you ever been treated at Mercy Pines?”
“No.”
Claire searched the document.
“The order claims Emily threatened fetal harm and attempted suicide.”
“The kitchen video,” I whispered.
Ryan had edited it.
He had spent months building a case.
Dr. Collins called the hospital attorney.
The answer came quickly.
Until a judge withdrew the order, the hospital risked contempt by refusing the transfer.
Dr. Collins’ voice became quiet.
“My patient is medically unstable. Moving her could kill both patients.”
The attorney replied through the speaker.
“The order specifically authorizes emergency psychiatric transport.”
Dr. Collins looked toward the fetal monitor.
“Then the judge signed an order without reviewing current medical evidence.”
Claire asked for the judge’s name.
Honorable Marcus Vale.
I knew him.
Ryan played golf with him.
They attended the same private club.
Dr. Collins closed the door.
“No one enters this room.”
A security supervisor appeared.
“Doctor, the transport team is already in the lobby.”
“Are they hospital employees?”
“No. Mercy Pines contractors.”
“Keep them downstairs.”
“They have armed private officers.”
Dr. Collins stared at him.
“This is a maternity ward.”
The supervisor looked ashamed.
“We are contacting police.”
Claire called a domestic violence attorney.
I called my sister, Hannah.
Ryan had isolated me from her eight months earlier after claiming she encouraged my “episodes.”
She answered on the first ring.
“Emily?”
Hearing her voice broke something inside me.
“I need you.”
“I’m coming.”
“No. Ryan may be watching you.”
“I don’t care.”
“I do.”
I told her about the court order.
She went silent.
Then she said,
“Emily, I have something.”
“What?”
“A recording.”
Three months earlier, Hannah had visited while Ryan was away.
She found me asleep at the kitchen table.
Ryan came home unexpectedly.
Hannah hid in the laundry room and recorded him speaking to Dr. Mercer.
Ryan said,
“If the pressure doesn’t finish her, the delivery will.”
Mercer answered,
“The child must breathe before she dies. Otherwise the insurance clause fails.”
I covered my mouth.
Hannah had been afraid to send it because Ryan threatened her son.
“Send it now.”
The recording reached Claire’s phone.
She forwarded it to police, the hospital attorney, and the county prosecutor.
Downstairs, shouting erupted.
The private transport team demanded access.
Dr. Collins turned to me.
“This changes everything.”
Then the door opened.
Not from the hallway.
From the adjoining staff room.
May you like
Dr. Mercer stepped inside wearing surgical scrubs.
He locked the door behind him.
