The Daughter He Rejected

Chapter 10

(Amelia POV)

“You can go back to your room now,” Linda said.

I wiped the gel from my stomach with a rough paper towel. I pulled my gray shirt down. I walked back down the hallway, my hand resting on my belly.

The woman with the wild eyes was still watching.

“A baby,” she said. “That’s a miracle here.”

I nodded. I could not speak.

---

My room was still there. Still cold. Still empty. But something was different now.

I was not alone anymore.

I sat on the bed and pressed both hands to my stomach. The baby was the size of a raspberry, the technician had said. Tiny. Fragile. But alive.

I will protect you, I thought. No matter what it costs.

I thought about David. About the way he had looked at me on the rooftop. About the way he had said I love you like it was a secret. He did not know about this baby. He had sent me away before I could tell him.

Would he even care if he knew?

I pushed the thought away. It did not matter. David had made his choice. He had stood at the altar and called me crazy. He had watched them drag me away. He had not visited. He had not called.

This baby was mine. Mine to protect. Mine to love. David had lost that right.

---

I pulled the small notebook from under my mattress. I had found it in the drawer by the bed. Blank pages. I did not know who had left it there. I did not care.

I opened it to the first page. The pen trembled in my hand.

“My name is Amelia Campbell. I am a doctor. I am not mentally ill. I do not belong here. Someone has framed me for a crime I did not commit.”

I paused. The words stared back at me.

“Today I saw my baby’s heartbeat. I am going to name her Joanna. That was my mother’s middle name. I wish David was here. I wish he could know that he is going to be a father. I wonder if he would be happy. I wonder if he would hold my hand and promise to protect us. But he is not here. He sent me away. And I do not know if he will ever come.”

I closed the notebook. I hid it under the mattress.

Then I lay down and closed my eyes.

I thought of Duncan. The night nurse. The way he had looked at me. The way he had said, “I’ll watch over you.”

Why does he care? I wondered. What does he want?

I did not have an answer. But for the first time since the wedding, I felt something other than despair.

I felt a flicker of hope.