Chapter 4 - Four Days Too Late
Mark arrived at the hospital four days after the surgery.
He wore the same dark blazer and black shirt from Madison’s celebration. In one hand, he carried his phone. In the other, he held a pastel baby gift bag filled with items purchased from the hospital shop.
He walked quickly through the labor and NICU corridor, rehearsing indignation.
He planned to say his battery had failed.
He planned to accuse me of overreacting.
He expected to find me weak enough to accept any explanation that allowed him to remain the husband in the room.
Instead, my maternity room was empty.
The bed had been stripped. The untouched flowers from his office remained near the window. There were no bassinets and no discharge bags.
Mark stopped Nurse Lauren near the glass NICU windows.
“Where’s my wife?”
Lauren studied him.
“Emily Carter?”
“Yes. She had triplets.”
Her professional expression hardened.
“She left four days ago. Isn’t she home?”
The baby gift bag drooped in his hand.
Mark’s face lost color.
He looked through the glass as though three infants might suddenly appear and restore the life he assumed would wait for him.
“Where did she go?”
“I’m not authorized to provide that information.”
“I’m her husband.”
Lauren held his gaze.
“You were listed as her husband. You were not present as her support person.”
Mark stepped back.
Then he noticed Rachel waiting at the end of the corridor with a sealed folder.
She had known exactly when he would arrive because the hospital notified her the moment he began asking questions.
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The real surprise was not that I had left.
It was what Mark had already lost while he was cutting Madison’s cake.
