Chapter 2 - Something's Wrong
Hannah's hand shook so hard the papers rattled.
"Can I call you right back?" she said into the phone, and hung up before they could answer.
The whole room was watching now. Somebody's iced tea glass sweated a ring onto the linen. Nobody touched their cake.
Hannah looked down at the pages in her lap. Then up at Mark.
"These are my medical records." Her voice was flat and careful. "Why does your mother have my medical records?"
Diane took a step back from the table. "Hannah, I was only trying to help—"
"Help." Mark said the word softly. Somehow that was worse than yelling. "Tell her what you asked them to look for, Mom."
Diane's mouth opened and closed.
Hannah turned another page. Whatever she read there changed her face.
"There's a note stapled to the back. A request form." She looked up. "Somebody asked the clinic to flag any complication. Any medical reason the pregnancy might not..." She stopped. "Might not continue."
A woman two seats down from me gasped and covered her mouth.
"Diane." My voice came out barely louder than a breath. "What did you do?"
Diane lifted her chin the way she always did right before she said something unforgivable.
"I was protecting my son. She was never the right woman for him. I needed to know whether there was a reason for the two of them to—"
"To what?" Hannah's voice cracked down the middle. "To lose the baby?"
Diane didn't answer.
The silence answered for her.
Mark pushed his chair back and stood. "We're done here."
And then Hannah made a sound — low and sharp, through her teeth — and grabbed the edge of the table with both hands.
"Mark."
He spun around.
May you like
"Something's wrong."
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