Chapter 6
The car pulled up to Maplewood Apartments, a run-down residential complex with dim hallway lights. Richard found unit 302 and knocked, but no one answered.
He knocked again, harder. Still nothing.
"Evelyn!" he called out.
The door next to hers cracked open, and an old woman poked her head out. "Stop banging. That girl left this afternoon and never came back."
"Where'd she go?"
"No idea. She had a bag with her, and her face was white as a sheet. She could barely walk straight, kept leaning on the wall for support.
"I could tell something was wrong, so I asked if she needed help. She shook her head and said she was going to the hospital."
The hospital? Richard's chest tightened. He pulled out his phone and called Adam. "Find out which hospital Evelyn went to today and what department she visited."
Adam said, "Mr. Lane, that's going to take some time."
"Make it fast!"
The next few minutes felt like years. Richard stood in the hallway, staring at that closed door, and suddenly a flood of small details came rushing back.
She always ate so little, claiming she was on a diet.
Sometimes the color would drain from her face out of nowhere, and she'd excuse herself to go rest.
She had gotten dangerously thin lately. Her collarbones jutted out sharp enough to balance a coin on.
His phone rang. It was Adam. "Mr. Lane, I found it. Ms. Hart went to Central City Hospital this morning. She was seen in the gastroenterology department and had a full workup done.
"She went back again in the afternoon, but the specific department is unclear. The hospital system has privacy protections in place, so I couldn't access the detailed diagnosis."
Gastroenterology. Richard's stomach dropped. Was it her stomach? Her liver? Or something worse?
Richard asked, "Where is she now?"
"Her phone signal was last picked up near Central City Hospital, but as for her exact location—"
"Central City Hospital." Richard cut him off. "I'm heading there."
He turned and bolted down the stairs. The car tore through the dark streets toward the hospital, and Richard's mind was a wreck the entire drive.
He thought about her visit to the gastroenterology clinic. He thought about how pale she always looked, how her hands would tremble. Maybe it was just gastritis. Maybe just an ulcer.
But then he remembered the sharp ridge of her collarbones, how she would press a hand to her stomach and wince, and the ghostly pallor of her face that morning.
The car screeched to a stop outside Central City Hospital, and Richard rushed into the emergency department. The nurse at the front desk looked up at him.
Richard asked, "Has a patient named Evelyn Hart been admitted? She's twenty-five, female, long hair."
"And you are?"
"I'm her—" Richard hesitated. Her husband? They were only married on paper.
He said, "A friend. She might be sick, and I'm worried about her."
The nurse checked the system. "Evelyn, yes, she's here. Bed three in the observation room. But the doctor is with her right now, so you may need to wait."
Richard strode down the hall and pushed open the door to observation room three.
Evelyn lay in the hospital bed, her face white as paper. A doctor in a white coat stood at her bedside with his back to the door.
"You're coughing up blood again." The doctor's voice was low and grave. "Evelyn, you need to be admitted."
Evelyn shook her head, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm not staying, Mason. Just write me a prescription for painkillers."
"Painkillers aren't going to fix this!" The doctor turned around, and his expression froze when he saw Richard.
Richard froze, too. The doctor looked familiar.
"Mr. Lane?" Mason frowned. "What are you doing here?"
"Mason?" It clicked. They had gone to medical school together before Mason left the country to continue his training. They hadn't spoken in years.
Mason ignored Evelyn's question and fixed his gaze on Richard. "Mr. Lane, the patient needs rest. I'm going to have to ask you to step outside."
"What's wrong with her?" Richard stared at Evelyn's ashen face. "What does she have? Why does she need painkillers?"
Mason positioned himself between Richard and the bed. "That's the patient's private medical information, Mr. Lane. Please respect that."
"I'm her husband!" The words shot out of Richard's mouth before he could stop them.
All three of them went still.