Chapter 3 - The Hospital File
The threatening message contained a photograph of my own medical chart.
Not a publicly available diagnosis, but an image of a page I had seen only once after my final surgery.
Someone had photographed it under the pale blue light of a hospital records room.
Across the top was my patient number.
Across the bottom, in black marker, someone had written: ASK ABOUT THE SECOND LOSS.
I had experienced two miscarriages.
There was no second loss I didn't know about.
Or so I believed.
Mara told me not to respond.
We contacted the hospital's privacy officer and requested an audit of every access to my record.
I sat in the back seat of Mara's car with my hands locked together while she explained that a threatening photograph was not proof the medical information itself was accurate.
I understood her words.
I did not feel reassured.
Across town, Brooke was being photographed leaving the maternity ward, one infant carrier in each hand and Arthur's name still listed on the release paperwork.
When reporters approached, she tucked the children beneath blankets and smiled through tears.
"My babies deserve peace," she said.
Later that morning a clip appeared online accusing me of hounding a new mother out of jealousy.
It included a photograph of me outside the hospital after my last operation.
Only three people had been present when the picture was taken.
Arthur.
Brooke.
And the nurse who helped me into the wheelchair.
Priya located the original file on Brooke's old cloud-sharing folder, which had once been linked to our family photo account.
The photo had been downloaded the previous evening from a machine associated with Nathan's office.
By lunchtime, the story had reached clients and employees.
Some people called to ask whether I was all right.
Others asked whether I would resign for the good of the company.
One board member forwarded an anonymous allegation that I had hidden enormous liabilities from our auditors.
I knew the timing was no coincidence.
At the hospital, a records supervisor named Dr.
Elena Moreno met with Mara and me in a narrow conference room.
"No one has the right to access your chart for a family argument," she said.
She confirmed that an employee had opened my file without a care-related reason.
The hospital had suspended the employee and referred the access for investigation.
But she would not speculate about any alleged missing medical event without reviewing the original chart.
I asked for a certified copy.
Dr.
Moreno turned the monitor so I could see.
A notation had been added to my record six months after my second miscarriage.
It mentioned a laboratory specimen shipped for testing under an authorization bearing my name.
"I never signed this," I whispered.
Mara leaned closer.
The recipient organization was Meridian Advisory Group.
The same supposed consulting company that had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from my business.
And beneath the specimen tracking number was a name I knew only too well.
May you like
Nathan Bennett.
