PART 2
“Isn’t she home?”
For several seconds, Mark Carter simply stared at the nurse.
The maternity floor continued moving around him as though nothing had happened. A cart rattled past. Somewhere behind a closed door, a television murmured. An orderly pushed a basket of folded blankets toward the elevators.
But Mark heard none of it.
“Home?” he repeated.
The nurse’s expression changed.
Not dramatically.
That somehow made it worse.
She glanced toward the nurses’ station before looking back at him.
“Mrs. Carter was discharged Tuesday afternoon.”
Mark swallowed.
Today was Saturday.
“That can’t be right.”
“I’m sorry?”
“She had a C-section.”
“Yes.”
“With triplets.”
“Yes.”
“So she couldn’t have just—”
He stopped.
The nurse waited.
Mark reached for his phone and pressed the power button. The screen lit up for the first time in hours.
Notifications began appearing so quickly that they stacked over one another.
Missed calls.
Voicemails.
Text messages.
His mother.
Emily’s sister, Claire.
Two numbers he recognized from the hospital.
Several he didn’t.
At the top of them all sat a message from Emily sent four days earlier.
Please don’t come to the hospital unless someone from the hospital contacts you. I need time. The babies are safe.
Mark read it twice.
Then a third time.
The babies are safe.
His knees nearly weakened with relief.
“They’re alive?”
The nurse’s face softened.
“I’m not permitted to discuss your wife’s medical information.”
“They’re my children.”
“I understand.”
“Then tell me where they are.”
“I can’t.”
The impatience that usually worked for Mark—in offices, restaurants, airports, anywhere people hurried to satisfy someone who sounded certain—did nothing here.
The nurse remained calm.
“You’ll need to contact your wife.”
“She’s not answering.”
The nurse gave him a long look.
Something in it made Mark lower his voice.
“What happened?”
“I think that’s a conversation you should have with Emily.”
He looked toward the empty room.
For the first time he noticed the bouquet more carefully.
The flowers from his office had begun to wilt.
