PART 1 — Under the Bed
I was still shaking when Rebecca yanked the curtains closed.
Two hours had passed since they placed Ethan on my chest. My body felt like it had been split open and hastily stitched back together. The epidural had worn off hours ago, and every small movement sent sharp, pulling pain through my abdomen. The nurse had just left after checking my bleeding. She said I was doing fine. She told me to rest.
I hadn’t even had the strength to argue when they took Ethan to the bassinet beside my bed.
Then the door opened again.
Rebecca walked in alone.
She was still wearing her pink sneakers and the purple hoodie she’d refused to take off since we left for the hospital yesterday. Her face was pale. She didn’t look at the bassinet. She didn’t look at me. She went straight to the window and pulled the curtains shut so hard the metal rings scraped against the rod.
The room fell into sudden shadow.
“Rebecca?” My voice came out hoarse. “What are you doing?”
She turned around. Her eyes were too wide. Too focused.
“Mom,” she whispered. “Get under the bed. Now.”
I blinked at her, certain I had misheard.
“What?”
“Not the bathroom. Under the bed.” Her voice cracked on the last word. She was already moving toward me, small hands gripping the edge of the mattress like she wanted to pull me down herself. “Please. Hurry.”
Something in her face stopped me from asking questions. My eight-year-old daughter had never looked at me like that before—like she was the adult and I was the one who needed protecting.
I didn’t think. I just moved.
Pain tore through my incision as I slid off the bed. I bit down on my lip to keep from crying out. The floor was cold against my bare feet. Rebecca grabbed my arm and helped lower me the rest of the way. The metal frame scraped my shoulder. Dust and the sharp smell of hospital disinfectant filled my nose as I crawled underneath.
Rebecca followed right behind me, squeezing into the narrow space. She pulled the thin hospital blanket down so it hung over the side, hiding us. Then she shoved something into my hand.
My cracked iPhone.
The camera app was already open. A video was recording.
I stared at her, confused and terrified.
Before I could speak, we heard it.
Slow, heavy footsteps in the hallway. Not the quick, purposeful steps of a nurse. These were deliberate. Unhurried. Like someone who knew exactly where they were going and had every right to be there.
Rebecca’s small hand shot out and covered my mouth. Her eyes locked onto mine, pleading with me to stay silent.
The footsteps stopped right outside Room 614.
The door opened.
From under the bed, I could only see the bottom half of a man. Dark dress shoes. Black slacks. He walked in like he owned the room. No hesitation. No knocking.
He stopped beside Ethan’s bassinet.
A second pair of shoes appeared behind him—white nurse clogs. The kind the staff wore.
My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I was sure they could hear it.
The man’s voice was low. Calm. Almost pleasant.
“Take the baby.”
The nurse clogs shifted closer to the bassinet.
I felt Rebecca’s entire body go rigid beside me. Her fingers dug into my arm.
She turned her head just enough for me to see her lips move.
It’s him.
I didn’t understand. My brain was still foggy from exhaustion and medication. But the terror in her eyes was real.
The nurse reached into the bassinet.
That was when the phone in my hand suddenly lit up brighter. The video that had been recording in silence started playing back—with the sound on.
A voice came through the tiny speaker, clear and sharp in the quiet room.
It was Rebecca’s voice.
Recorded earlier.
“Mom, if anyone comes for Ethan, don’t let them take him. Especially not the man with the scar on his neck. He’s not supposed to be here. Please hide. Please don’t let them take my brother.”
The room went completely still.
The man’s shoes turned slowly toward the bed.
The nurse’s hand froze above Ethan.
And Rebecca’s small fingers tightened around mine until I could feel her pulse hammering against my skin.
She had known.
May you like
She had known this was going to happen.
And now we were trapped under the bed with nothing but a cracked phone and whatever was about to happen next
