Chapter 6 - Anne Wakes Up
The man with the leather folder took one step into the ICU corridor before Matthew blocked him completely.
"You are not taking her anywhere."
The stranger's expression remained professionally bored.
"Mr. Sullivan, I am an officer of the court."
"Then you know how to identify yourself."
Detective Bell arrived behind Matthew.
"He is right."
The stranger finally looked concerned.
Bell held out his hand.
"Name, identification, and the order."
The man produced a state identification card and a court services badge.
His name was Daniel Frost.
Bell examined both before taking the folder.
Sarah stayed behind the nurse with Luna pressed to her chest.
Victoria stood at the far end of the corridor, her face white.
Maya moved directly to Sarah and knelt beside her.
"You are staying with me while they check this."
Sarah's eyes never left Matthew.
Frost pointed at the order.
"The petition states the child's sole legal guardian is medically incapacitated, no verified relative is available, and there is a credible risk of unauthorized removal."
Matthew laughed once in disbelief.
"Unauthorized removal by whom?"
"The filing does not specify."
Bell read the final page.
"The petitioner does."
He looked up.
"Sullivan Family Protective Trust."
Matthew turned toward Victoria.
She shook her head before he spoke.
"That is Richard's entity."
Frost glanced between them.
"My instructions are to transport the child to a licensed private placement until a hearing."
Maya stood.
"You are not moving a traumatized five-year-old from an ICU hallway based on a petition I have never been served."
Frost's tone cooled.
"Ms. Torres, I suggest you read the order."
"I suggest you wait while our legal office verifies the order with the issuing judge."
Bell handed the papers to Maya.
"Do that."
Frost looked annoyed.
"Detective, this is a civil matter."
"And I am investigating an intentional hit-and-run involving this child's mother."
Bell stepped closer.
"So until I know who is trying to move my only eyewitness, I am interested."
Frost stopped arguing.
Sarah tugged Maya's sleeve.
"What is happening?"
Maya turned toward her.
"Some adults are arguing about where you should wait while your mom gets better."
"I already know where."
"Where?"
Sarah pointed at the ICU doors.
"Here."
Maya nodded.
"That is what I am arguing for."
Matthew crouched near Sarah without touching her.
"No one is putting you in a car without telling you what is happening."
Frost looked at him.
"You cannot promise that."
Matthew turned his head slowly.
"Watch me."
Bell stepped between the two men before the moment became worse.
A nurse rushed from Anne's room.
"Dr. Kline."
Everyone turned.
"She is waking up."
Sarah dropped Luna.
Matthew caught the doll before it hit the floor.
"Mommy?"
The nurse nodded.
"She is confused, but she is responsive."
Maya immediately pointed at Frost.
"If Anne Miller can communicate, your placement claim may change."
Frost exhaled in frustration.
"I will wait for verification."
Sarah was already moving toward the room.
Maya followed her.
Matthew remained outside.
Every part of him wanted to go in.
Every part of him understood he had no right.
Victoria came to stand beside him.
"You should let Anne see Sarah first."
Matthew looked at his mother.
"For once, we agree."
Victoria flinched.
Through the glass panel, Matthew saw Sarah climb onto a chair beside Anne's bed.
Anne looked impossibly small beneath the white blanket.
A bandage crossed her forehead.
Her left arm was immobilized.
Lines and monitors surrounded her body.
Sarah leaned close.
Anne's lips moved.
Sarah immediately began to cry.
Anne lifted two fingers and touched her daughter's cheek.
Matthew had to look away.
Six years earlier, he had imagined Anne holding their child only in dreams he refused to admit he had.
Now reality was ten feet away behind glass.
Dr. Kline entered the room, checked Anne's responses, and spoke to her for several minutes.
Then Maya came out.
"She is asking questions."
Matthew's heart kicked.
"About what?"
"About Sarah first."
Maya paused.
"Then about you."
Victoria gripped the back of a chair.
"Does she know I am here?"
"No."
Matthew looked at Maya.
"What did she say about me?"
Maya studied him.
"She asked whether Matthew Sullivan was in the hospital."
"And?"
"I told her yes."
"What did she say?"
Maya's face became unreadable.
"Keep him away from Sarah."
Matthew felt the words like a physical blow.
Victoria closed her eyes.
Frost watched from the far wall with sudden interest.
Matthew forced himself not to react.
"Then I will stay away."
Maya looked surprised.
"You will?"
"She is Sarah's mother."
His voice was tight.
"She just woke up after major surgery, and she asked me to keep my distance."
He stepped backward.
"So I will."
Sarah appeared in the doorway before Maya could respond.
"She did not mean you."
Everyone turned.
Maya crouched.
"Sarah, you need to stay with your mom."
Sarah pointed past Matthew.
"Mommy said keep him away from Sarah."
She looked directly at Victoria.
"She meant the other Sullivan."
Matthew stared at her.
"Richard?"
Sarah shook her head.
"Mommy said, 'Keep him away from Sarah.'"
Maya gently corrected her.
"She was looking at me when she said it, sweetheart."
Sarah became frustrated.
"No."
She pointed at Matthew.
"Mommy asked if he was here."
Then she pointed down the hall at Frost's papers.
"Then she asked if Richard knew."
Matthew felt his pulse slam against his throat.
Maya turned toward the room.
"I need to clarify this."
Dr. Kline stepped out first.
"Anne wants to speak with Mr. Sullivan."
Matthew did not move.
"Which one?"
Dr. Kline gave him a tired look.
"You."
Victoria whispered his name.
Matthew ignored her and entered the room.
The air smelled faintly of antiseptic and warm plastic.
Anne lay propped against white pillows.
For one second, neither of them spoke.
Six years stood between them like a third person.
Matthew saw the woman he remembered and the years he had missed at the same time.
Anne looked older around the eyes.
He knew he did too.
Her gaze moved over his face slowly.
"You came."
Matthew stopped beside the bed.
"I did not know you were here until this morning."
Anne closed her eyes.
A tear slid toward her temple.
"I know."
Those two words destroyed the defense he had been carrying for six years.
"Anne, what happened?"
Her eyes opened again.
"Which part?"
"All of it."
She gave a weak, humorless laugh.
"You always did ask for impossible things."
Matthew's hands tightened at his sides.
"My mother told me about the letters."
Anne went completely still.
"She still has them?"
"She says she does."
Anne looked toward the window.
"Then she kept more than paper."
"What does that mean?"
"Later."
Her breathing became shallow.
Dr. Kline watched the monitor from the doorway.
"Keep this short."
Matthew nodded.
He looked back at Anne.
"Did Richard arrange the accident?"
Fear entered her face immediately.
"Do not say his name around Sarah."
"She saw a man in the car."
Anne tried to sit higher and gasped in pain.
Matthew moved instinctively toward her.
She raised one hand.
"Do not."
He stopped.
"Anne, Sarah described a black onyx ring."
Anne's eyes filled with terror.
"He was there?"
Matthew heard the answer inside the question.
"You expected him to be?"
Anne looked toward Sarah, visible through the glass with Maya.
"I knew someone had been following us for three days."
"Why did you not call police?"
"I did."
"What happened?"
"They said there was no crime in being followed on a public street if I could not prove the same person was doing it."
Matthew's jaw tightened.
"Why did you write me?"
Anne stared at him.
"Because I finally understood what Richard was afraid of."
"The trust?"
Her eyes widened.
"Victoria told you."
"Some of it."
Anne looked exhausted.
"Then you know Sarah changes everything."
"I know she may be my daughter."
Anne's eyes filled.
Matthew's voice broke despite his effort.
"Is she?"
For several seconds, Anne did not answer.
Machines clicked softly around them.
Sarah's silhouette remained beyond the glass.
Finally, Anne nodded.
"Yes."
Matthew stopped breathing.
The word was too small for what it did to him.
He looked through the glass at Sarah.
His daughter.
The phrase felt impossible and instantly true.
"Why did you not find another way to tell me?"
Anne's expression changed from grief to anger.
"I tried every way I had."
"I know about the letters now."
"Not just letters."
"What else?"
"Calls."
"I never received them."
"Emails."
"They bounced."
"I came to your building once when Sarah was three months old."
Matthew stared at her.
"What?"
"Security would not let me upstairs."
"I was never told."
"I left a note."
Matthew shook his head.
"I never saw it."
Anne's anger faded into something worse.
"Then it was all true."
"What was true?"
She looked at him for a long moment.
"Your mother told me you knew I was pregnant."
Matthew's face went numb.
"She said you wanted no part of it."
"Anne, no."
"She showed me a letter with your signature."
Matthew stepped closer before remembering her warning and stopped again.
"What did it say?"
Anne's voice became a whisper.
"It said I had made my choice, and you were making yours."
Matthew felt sick.
"I never wrote that."
"I know that now."
"How?"
Anne looked toward the cardboard box under Sarah's chair.
"Because five years ago, I found out the signature was copied from a contract."
Matthew followed her gaze.
"And you kept proof?"
Anne's eyes moved to Luna.
"I kept everything I could."
Dr. Kline stepped into the room.
"That is enough."
Matthew nodded.
Anne reached out suddenly and caught the sleeve of his jacket.
It was the first time she had touched him in six years.
"Matthew."
He looked down at her hand.
"What?"
"Do not let Richard take Sarah."
"He will not."
"Do not promise things because you are angry."
"I am not."
Matthew looked through the glass at the little girl holding a handmade doll.
"I am promising because she is my daughter."
Anne's grip tightened.
"Then prove it before he proves something else."
Matthew frowned.
"What could he prove?"
Anne released his sleeve.
"That I stole from your family."
She closed her eyes.
May you like
"Because six years ago, Richard made sure the evidence already existed."
