Chapter 3 - What the Doctors Found
At St. Matthew’s Hospital, doctors rushed Maisie into the pediatric emergency unit.
Lucas and I stood behind glass while nurses cut away her pink pajama sleeve and inserted an IV.
I kept hearing Warren’s voice.
Stop making this bigger than it is.
Dr. Alicia Grant came out twenty minutes later.
“Your daughter has a sedative in her system.”
My hands went cold.
“What kind?”
“A prescription benzodiazepine. The dose was dangerous for her size.”
“Could it have killed her?”
“Yes.”
Lucas placed one hand against the wall.
“Was she assaulted?”
“We found bruising on her upper arms and a small cut near her temple. We’re documenting everything.”
I closed my eyes.
Someone had held her.
Someone had drugged her.
Someone had placed her inside garbage and walked away.
Dr. Grant continued.
“She also inhaled dust and may have mild hypothermia, but she is responding to treatment.”
“When can I see her?”
“Soon.”
A police detective named Nora Hayes arrived and took our statements.
When I told her Tessa had witnessed Warren adding something to Maisie’s drink, Hayes asked where my family was.
“They were at the warehouse.”
“Are they still there?”
I called Tessa.
No answer.
I called again.
Straight to voicemail.
Then Elaine called me.
“Your father is upset.”
“My daughter is in intensive care.”
“Warren did not hurt her.”
“Tessa saw him drug her.”
“Tessa is unstable.”
“That is what you said about Hannah.”
Silence.
My mother lowered her voice.
“Do not bring Hannah into this.”
“Why?”
“Because she abandoned us.”
“Did she?”
Elaine hung up.
Detective Hayes requested the warehouse security footage.
Warren told police every camera had malfunctioned during the anniversary dinner.
That was impossible.
The system had been upgraded six months earlier after inventory began disappearing.
Then Lucas remembered something.
“Maisie had her tablet.”
I looked at him.
“She was filming the decorations earlier.”
We had not found the tablet near the dumpster.
Hayes contacted officers at the warehouse and ordered them to search.
Inside Maisie’s hospital room, I sat beside her bed.
Her eyes opened slowly.
“Mommy?”
“I’m right here.”
She began to cry.
“I’m sorry.”
“You did nothing wrong.”
“Grandpa said I was bad.”
My chest tightened.
“What happened?”
“I saw the lady.”
“What lady?”
“The one in the picture.”
“What picture?”
Maisie looked toward the closed door as if afraid someone might hear.
“The lady who looks like you.”
Hannah.
“Where did you see it?”
“In the red wood.”
Before I could ask more, her monitor alarm sounded.
Dr. Grant rushed in and asked me to step back.
Maisie’s heart rate had dropped suddenly.
A nurse checked the IV line and found a fresh puncture in the tubing.
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Someone had injected another drug after she reached the hospital.
👉 Warren’s plan had followed Maisie into the hospital, proving someone inside the family was still trying to finish what began behind the warehouse.
