Chapter 8 - THE HOSPITAL NIGHT
I remembered almost nothing about Laura’s final night clearly.
That was the shame of shock.
Lights.
Rainwater on my coat.
A doctor telling me her injuries were catastrophic.
Anna holding six-week-old Maisie in the waiting room.
My own hands shaking so badly I couldn’t sign a form.
Laura never regained meaningful consciousness while I was there.
She died at 4:26 a.m.
Corinne’s old keycard registered at 2:13.
Rachel requested hospital security records.
Most video had been overwritten years ago.
Access logs survived.
So did visitor notes.
One nurse, Karen Willis, had documented “female friend of patient” asking for room information around 2:20.
No name.
Another note recorded a woman being turned away from restricted ICU access because she wasn’t family.
Could that have been Corinne?
Maybe.
We needed more.
Karen still worked at St. Matthew’s.
She agreed to speak.
When Rachel showed her three old photographs, Karen pointed to Corinne without hesitation.
“That’s her.”
My skin went cold.
“You’re sure?”
“I remember the green eyes. She was upset. Said she had information the husband needed.”
“Did you meet her before?”
“No.”
“Did she see Laura?”
“Not while I was there.”
That mattered.
No secret bedside murder.
No unexplained access to medication.
Corinne reached the floor.
She was denied the room.
Karen remembered something else.
“She asked where the baby was.”
I gripped the table.
“What exactly?”
“She said, ‘Is the baby here with him?’”
Maisie.
Six weeks old.
“What did you tell her?”
“Nothing.”
Karen said hospital security escorted Corinne back downstairs around 2:30 after she refused to leave the restricted corridor.
That reduced one fear.
Corinne had not secretly entered Laura’s ICU room—at least not according to available evidence.
But why come at all?
Corinne’s lawyer eventually answered.
After being confronted with the access log, Corinne admitted she went to St. Matthew’s.
New story.
She claimed Daniel called her about Laura’s crash because he feared police might discover Northcrest records in the vehicle.
Daniel denied calling.
Phone records would decide.
They did.
No call between Daniel and Corinne that night.
But there was an incoming call to Corinne at 1:48 a.m.
From a prepaid number.
Unidentified.
That became a new question.
Rachel warned me.
“Do not let every unknown number become conspiracy.”
She was right.
We requested carrier information.
Meanwhile, the flash drive gave us a major financial payoff.
The brokerage account Daniel mentioned existed.
Corinne controlled it.
Historic statements showed $276,000 in Northcrest funds entering over seven months.
Then the money moved again.
Some paid credit-card debt.
Some went toward a condo down payment.
The rest funded an investment account that eventually grew substantially.
Corinne had directly benefited.
Not theoretical.
Not implied.
Documented.
That meant Laura’s accusation was essentially correct.
Corinne had lied to me from the beginning.
That afternoon I met her through attorneys for a structured conversation.
I placed the brokerage statement on the table.
“You said you never had a financial interest.”
Corinne stared.
Then shrugged.
“That was years ago.”
“You stole from Laura.”
“I was owed.”
“For what?”
“Saving her company during the sale.”
“By billing fake hours?”
Her jaw tightened.
“You know nothing about what I did for that woman.”
“I know she fired you.”
“She humiliated me.”
“And then you came to the hospital when she was dying.”
Corinne froze.
I had not planned to reveal that.
My anger won.
Rachel gave me a warning look.
Corinne recovered.
“I wanted to tell you who she really was.”
“You didn’t know me.”
“I knew enough.”
That answer chilled me.
“What does that mean?”
Corinne stood.
“It means Laura wasn’t the saint you made her after she died.”
She left before explaining.
Cheap cliffhanger?
Not if we paid it early next chapter.
We would.
May you like
Because this time I had learned not to let vague accusations control the story.
📖 Hospital records disproved a secret ICU attack but confirmed Corinne came looking for Laura and newborn Maisie, while the brokerage trail finally proved she personally profited from the missing company money. 👇
