Chapter 7: The Things We hide
1307 Words
Chapter 7
Fiona woke with a start.
For a moment, she had no idea where she was.
Then the ache in her neck reminded her.
The chair.
The research.
The laptop.
She groaned softly and sat upright, rubbing the back of her neck as sunlight poured through the living room windows. Her laptop remained open on the coffee table, the screen dimmed but still displaying the articles she'd spent hours reading the previous night.
Military commendations.
Deployment reports.
Interviews.
Photographs.
All of them connected to one man.
Lieutenant Colonel Kieran Grey Ashford.
She blinked and reached for her phone.
10:07 a.m.
"Great."
TJ had spent the night at her mother's house, which at least explained why no one had jumped on her at dawn demanding breakfast.
Fiona stretched before turning her attention back to the laptop.
One photograph remained on the screen.
She had looked at it dozens of times the night before.
A younger version of Kieran stood beside an older couple.
His parents.
General Ashford.
Lisa Ashford.
Her eyes narrowed.
Lisa Ashford.
The name tugged at something.
She opened another photograph she'd found earlier.
This one was older.
Far older.
Her father stood in military uniform beside General Ashford.
Both men were laughing at something outside the frame.
Not posing.
Not being formal.
Laughing.
Comfortable.
Close.
Fiona frowned.
Her father had been a military doctor.
She'd always known that.
What she hadn't known was that he'd apparently had friends.
Real friends.
Because no colleague casually adopted a child with you.
No colleague appeared in family photographs.
No colleague looked at you the way General Ashford had looked at her father in those pictures.
There had been something deeper there.
Something important.
Something nobody had ever told her.
And she intended to find out what it was.
---
An hour later, Fiona pulled her white Lexus RX into her mother's driveway.
The late morning sun reflected off the polished exterior as she switched off the engine.
The house looked exactly as it always had.
Warm.
Welcoming.
Safe.
Her mother's vacation had already begun, and for once there would be no rushing to meetings or answering hospital calls.
Fiona climbed out and headed toward the front door.
She barely stepped inside before a familiar voice shouted—
"Mom!"
A blur launched itself toward her.
Fiona laughed as TJ wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Hey, buddy."
"Grandma let me have pancakes."
"The horror."
"And ice cream."
Fiona gasped dramatically.
"Elaine Harper gave you ice cream before lunch?"
TJ nodded solemnly.
"Twice."
"I leave you here one night and civilization collapses."
TJ laughed.
The sound instantly eased some of the tension she'd been carrying.
"Mom, come see my game."
"Later."
"You always say later."
"Because later eventually becomes now."
"That's not how later works."
"It is in this family."
TJ rolled his eyes.
Exactly like his grandfather used to.
The realization hit unexpectedly.
Her smile faltered for a brief second.
Then TJ ran back toward the living room.
Fiona watched him go before making her way toward the kitchen.
Her mother stood by the counter pouring coffee.
"Well," Elaine said. "Look who finally decided to wake up."
Fiona accepted the mug offered to her.
"Good morning to you too."
"You look tired."
"I slept in a chair."
Elaine winced.
"Why?"
"Research."
Her mother raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds dangerously close to work."
Fiona laughed softly.
"Maybe."
They settled around the kitchen island.
For a while the conversation remained comfortably ordinary.
Vacation plans.
TJ.
The hospital.
A nurse who had accidentally sent an email to the wrong department.
The weather.
Nothing important.
Nothing dangerous.
And yet Fiona could feel the question waiting.
Growing heavier by the minute.
Eventually a silence settled between them.
Small.
Natural.
The perfect opening.
Fiona set down her mug.
"Mom?"
"Hm?"
"Do you know General Ashford?"
The reaction lasted less than a second.
Most people wouldn't have noticed it.
Fiona did.
A brief pause.
A tiny hesitation.
Gone almost immediately.
"Ashford?" Elaine repeated.
"Yes."
Her mother shook her head.
"No. Should I have?"
The answer came smoothly.
Too smoothly.
Fiona stared at her.
Something felt wrong.
Not the words.
The delivery.
Elaine rarely hesitated.
Especially not when answering simple questions.
Yet she had.
Fiona felt something tighten in her chest.
Her mother reached for her coffee.
Avoiding eye contact.
"How's vacation coverage going at the hospital?" Elaine asked casually.
Fiona blinked.
"What?"
"The schedules."
Another sip.
Another avoidance.
"Everything running smoothly?"
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"Fine."
"Good."
Elaine nodded.
"Don't overwork yourself."
"I won't."
"And how many patients are on your floor right now?"
There it was.
Another change of subject.
Another redirect.
Fiona studied her mother carefully.
Years of experience had taught her how to read patients.
How to identify discomfort.
Stress.
Avoidance.
Right now she saw all three.
Her mother was hiding something.
Something significant.
Something connected to the Ashfords.
Something connected to her father.
The realization settled quietly into place.
Her mother was many things.
A brilliant doctor.
A respected administrator.
A wonderful grandmother.
But a terrible liar.
The thought almost made her smile.
Almost.
Elaine glanced up.
"And how's Room 36?"
The question caught her off guard.
Immediately her thoughts shifted toward Kieran.
Toward his quiet demeanor.
Toward the scars.
Toward the exhaustion she sometimes saw behind his eyes.
"He'll recover."
Elaine nodded.
"Good."
Silence followed.
Then Fiona decided to push.
Just a little.
"Do you know Lieutenant Colonel Kieran Grey Ashford?"
This pause lasted longer.
Long enough to confirm everything.
Elaine's fingers tightened slightly around her mug.
"No."
Lie.
A complete and obvious lie.
Not suspicion.
Not possibility.
Certainty.
Her mother knew exactly who Kieran Grey Ashford was.
The question was why.
And what she wasn't telling her.
---
An hour later Fiona left.
The entire drive back to the hospital was spent replaying the conversation.
Every hesitation.
Every glance away.
Every attempted change of subject.
Questions circled endlessly in her mind.
What had happened?
What connected the Ashfords to her father?
Why was her mother hiding it?
By the time she parked at the hospital, she had no answers.
Only more questions.
---
Back at the house, Elaine remained seated at the kitchen island.
The front door had long since closed.
TJ's laughter echoed faintly from another room.
Yet she hadn't moved.
Her coffee sat untouched.
Slowly, she closed her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Kieran."
The whisper barely reached the empty room.
---
Fiona arrived at Room 36 shortly after noon.
The familiar tension returned the moment she stepped inside.
Kieran was awake.
Sitting up slightly.
A file rested on the tray before him.
His expression remained unreadable.
As always.
"Good afternoon," she said.
"Doctor."
She reviewed his chart.
Checked his vitals.
Asked routine questions.
Everything normal.
Everything professional.
Yet her mind remained elsewhere.
On General Ashford.
On her father.
On secrets buried somewhere in the past.
Eventually she finished.
"Your recovery is progressing well," she said.
He nodded.
"Good."
Fiona offered a polite smile before turning toward the door.
Her hand closed around the handle.
Then his voice stopped her.
"Did you find what you're looking for Doc?"
She froze.
Every muscle in her body went still.
Slowly.
Very slowly.
She turned around.
Kieran's gaze never left hers.
Steady.
Calm.
Knowing.
A chill ran down her spine.
Because she had never mentioned General Ashford in front of him.
Not once.
Yet somehow—
Kieran Grey Ashford knew exactly who she'd been asking about.
“Excuse me” She heard herself say.
“You've been looking at me like a puzzle you're trying to fix” The longest statement he has ever made.
“Oh” was all she could say, she was a terrible liar just like her mom.
Grey knew, she knew.....or so she thought, something happened and everyone knew besides her and she was about to find out.
- Writer
