Mike looked toward her.
“The secured wing records audio.”
Her face changed.
It was small at first: a tightening around the mouth, a flicker in the eyes.
Then she glanced at the ceiling again.
“Audio?”
“Yes.”
She swallowed.
The hospital’s private recovery wing often handled patients who required additional security.
The corridor and suite systems were designed to preserve an accurate record when disturbances occurred.
Mrs.
Whitfield had walked directly into one of those rooms and narrated her own behavior.
Her voice saying I didn’t deserve the suite.
Her demand that I give one twin to her daughter.
Her insistence that I couldn’t manage two babies.
My warning not to touch Noah.
The sound of the slap.
Her later claim that I had tried to hurt him.
All of it had happened within range of the system.
She tried another approach.
“I was upset,” she said.
“People say things when they’re upset.”
I looked at the legal papers.
“Did you print those while you were upset too?”
Her eyes snapped toward me.
The attorney picked up the waiver.
“This is not a handwritten note composed during an argument.
You arrived with legal surrender documents already prepared for discussion.”
“Prepared for discussion,” she repeated quickly.
“Exactly.
Discussion.
I never said Caroline had to sign them.”
Chief Mike glanced at me.
“Did you ask her to leave?”
“Yes.”
“Did you tell her not to touch your son?”
“Yes.”
“Did she take him anyway?”
“Yes.”
Mrs.
Whitfield interrupted.
“Because she wasn’t thinking clearly! She’d just had surgery.
Somebody had to be rational.”
The nurse beside me went completely still.
I could see the exact moment Mrs.
Whitfield realized she had just confirmed that she knew I had objected.
She tried to recover.
“I mean, she was emotional.
Any new mother would be.”
The attorney closed the folder halfway.
“Being recovering from surgery does not transfer parental authority to a grandmother.”
Mrs.
Whitfield’s voice sharpened.
“My daughter cannot have children.
Do none of you understand how cruel this is? Caroline has two babies.
Two.
