Chapter 6: The Medical Report Nobody Was Supposed to See
Darius didn't speak.
He simply stared at Evelyn.
“You found a medical report in Renee's jewelry box?””
Evelyn nodded.
“Yes, sir.””
“When?””
“About a week after the funeral.””
“Why didn't you tell me?””
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
“Because I was afraid.””
Darius stepped closer.
“Afraid of what?””
She looked toward Brittany.
“Of what it might do to this family.””
Brittany immediately laughed.
“That's convenient.””
Evelyn turned sharply.
“Don't.””
“Don't what?””
“Don't pretend you care about this family.””
Brittany shrugged.
“I've been trying to tell Darius the truth all afternoon.””
Darius raised his hand.
“Enough. Evelyn, I need you to tell me exactly what you found.””
She took a deep breath.
“It was a folded hospital report. There were several pages. Mrs. Renee had written something on the last page.””
“What?””
“I couldn't understand all of it. But I remember one sentence.””
Darius waited.
Evelyn looked directly at him.
“She wrote, 'If anything happens to me, make sure Darius knows the truth about Brittany.''”
The room went silent.
Brittany's face changed.
It was a small movement.
Almost invisible.
But Darius noticed.
“Where is the report now?”” he asked.
Evelyn hesitated.
“I kept it safe.””
“Where?””
“In my locked cabinet downstairs.””
Darius looked at her.
“Go get it.””
Evelyn nodded and hurried away.
Brittany immediately moved toward the staircase.
Darius stepped into her path.
“Where are you going?””
“To the bathroom.””
“Wait here.””
“You cannot order me around!””
“Watch me.””
Brittany glared at him.
“You're beginning to sound just like Renee.””
Darius stared at her.
“That's the greatest compliment you've ever given me.””
A few minutes later, Evelyn returned carrying a brown folder.
She placed it on the table.
Darius opened it carefully.
The first page contained Renee's hospital information.
The second listed medical observations.
The third was a series of notes from a physician.
Marcus leaned over his shoulder.
“May I?””
Darius handed him the report.
Marcus examined the pages.
“This appears to be a record of Renee's hospital consultations.””
“Can you tell me what it says?””
“I'm not a physician, but I can help identify the relevant sections.””
He turned several pages.
Then he stopped.
“There's a note about a visitor.””
Darius leaned closer.
“What visitor?””
Marcus pointed to the entry.
The name was clear.
Brittany Collins.
The date was two days before Renee's final hospitalization.
Darius looked up.
“Why were you visiting her?””
Brittany folded her arms.
“I already told you. We were friends.””
Marcus continued reading.
“The physician recorded that Renee became distressed following the visit.””
Darius's jaw tightened.
“What did she say?””
Marcus studied the handwriting.
“It says the patient reported receiving information that caused significant emotional distress.””
Darius looked at Brittany.
“What information?””
She shook her head.
“I don't remember.””
“You don't remember?””
“It was two years ago!””
Marcus turned another page.
Then he noticed something unusual.
“There's a missing attachment.””
Darius frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“This report references an additional document, but it isn't included in the folder.””
Evelyn stepped closer.
“That was the page I couldn't find.””
Darius looked at her.
“What page?””
“The last page. I thought it had been removed.””
Marcus checked the document numbers.
“You're right. There's a reference to an attachment numbered four.””
He closed the folder.
“Without that page, we don't have the full record.””
Brittany exhaled.
“Wonderful. So we're all wasting our time.””
Darius looked at her.
“Not anymore.””
He took out his phone.
“Marcus, I want the hospital records department contacted. I want every available document connected to Renee's final admission.””
Marcus nodded.
“I'll arrange that through the proper process.””
Brittany shook her head.
“You can't dig up every private detail of a dead woman's life just because you're angry with me.””
Darius's voice dropped.
“Then you should have left her life alone.””
Upstairs, Kayla had fallen asleep.
Evelyn had tucked the pink blanket around her and placed Renee's photograph beside the bed.
The little girl had finally stopped asking whether her curls would return.
But every few minutes, she moved her hand across the top of her head.
As if checking whether the hair was still missing.
Darius stood at the doorway for a moment.
He watched her breathing.
Then he quietly entered and sat beside her.
“Daddy?””
Her eyes were barely open.
“I'm here, baby.””
“Is Brittany gone?””
“Not yet.””
Kayla's face tightened.
“Will she come upstairs?””
“No. She won't come near you.””
“Promise?””
Darius took her hand.
“Promise.””
She closed her eyes again.
A moment later, she whispered:
“Daddy?””
“Yes?””
“Can we cut my hair when it grows back?””
Darius smiled sadly.
“Only if you want to.””
“I want to keep it long.””
“Then we'll keep it long.””
Kayla relaxed.
Darius kissed her forehead.
As he stood, he noticed something on the bedside table.
A small hair ribbon.
It was one of the pink ribbons Renee used to tie around Kayla's curls.
He picked it up.
A memory came rushing back.
Renee standing in front of the bathroom mirror, tying a ribbon around Kayla's hair.
“Don't pull too tight,” Darius had teased.
Renee had laughed.
“I'm not. I'm making her beautiful.””
Then she had looked at him.
“She'll always be beautiful, Darius. Promise me you'll never let anyone make her believe otherwise.””
He closed his fist around the ribbon.
“I promise,” he whispered.
Downstairs, Marcus was examining the old guardianship document again.
He had placed it beside the hospital report.
“There's another inconsistency,” he said.
Darius returned to the hallway.
“What?””
“The dates.””
Marcus pointed to the paper.
“This guardianship proposal is dated three days before Renee's final hospital admission.””
Darius nodded.
“And?””
“The witness signature belongs to Linda Parker. But according to the hospital visitor record, Linda wasn't at the hospital that week.””
Darius frowned.
“Could she have signed it somewhere else?””
“Possibly. But the document also references an assessment that doesn't appear in the medical folder.””
He paused.
“Someone may have submitted information about Renee without her knowledge.””
Brittany laughed.
“Or perhaps Renee changed her mind about something.””
Marcus looked at her.
“Did you submit any paperwork regarding guardianship?””
“No.””
“Did you contact a social worker?””
“I already told you I spoke to one.””
“Did you provide them with written statements?””
Brittany hesitated.
“I don't remember.””
Marcus closed the folder.
“That is something we will need to establish.””
Darius rubbed his forehead.
“Why would Renee hide all this from me?””
Evelyn spoke quietly.
“Perhaps she was trying to protect you.””
Darius turned.
“From what?””
Evelyn looked toward the dressing room.
“From Brittany.””
Brittany threw her hands up.
“This is unbelievable!””
She grabbed her purse.
“I'm leaving.””
Darius stepped aside.
“Fine.””
She stared at him.
“You're not going to stop me?””
“No.””
Brittany looked genuinely surprised.
Then she straightened her dress.
“Good. Because I refuse to be treated like a criminal.””
She walked toward the front door.
But before she reached it, Marcus spoke.
“Ms. Collins?””
She stopped.
“What?””
“I suggest you don't remove anything else from this property until we've established what documents belong to whom.””
Brittany's eyes narrowed.
“I don't have anything.””
Marcus glanced at the envelope.
“Then there should be no problem.””
She opened the front door.
And left.
For a few minutes, nobody spoke.
Darius watched her walk toward her car.
Then he turned to Marcus.
“Do you believe her?””
Marcus didn't answer immediately.
“I believe we have several unanswered questions.””
“That's not what I asked.””
Marcus looked at him.
“I think you should be careful. Don't make assumptions until we have the complete records.””
Darius nodded reluctantly.
Evelyn began gathering the documents.
Then something slipped out of the brown folder.
A small piece of paper fell onto the floor.
Darius picked it up.
It was a handwritten note.
The paper was old, and the edges had become yellow.
He recognized Renee's handwriting immediately.
Darius, if Brittany ever returns, don't let her tell you that I abandoned her. I tried to help her. I tried to protect her. But she wanted something I could never give her.
Darius read the final sentence.
Then he read it again.
She wanted to be Kayla's mother.
He looked toward the door Brittany had just walked through.
Marcus took the note.
“This is important.””
Darius nodded.
But something else bothered him.
The sentence suggested that Brittany had wanted Kayla long before she entered his life.
Why?
He looked at Evelyn.
“Did Renee ever tell you why she was so afraid of Brittany?””
Evelyn hesitated.
Then she slowly nodded.
“Yes, sir.””
“What did she say?””
Evelyn looked toward Kayla's bedroom.
“Mrs. Renee once told me that Brittany believed she had a special connection to Kayla.””
Darius frowned.
“What kind of connection?””
Evelyn lowered her voice.
“She said Brittany believed Kayla should have been hers.””
Darius felt the air leave his lungs.
“That's impossible.””
Evelyn nodded.
“I thought so too.””
Marcus stepped forward.
“Evelyn, did Renee ever explain what she meant?””
Evelyn shook her head.
“Not completely. But I remember one thing she said very clearly.””
“What?””
“She told me that Brittany had been involved in something before Kayla was born.””
Darius stared at her.
“What?””
Evelyn looked down.
Then she said:
“Mrs. Renee told me that Brittany had once made a promise involving a baby.””
Darius's hands went cold.
“A baby?””
Evelyn nodded.
“And she said Brittany never forgave her for breaking that promise.””
Later that evening, Darius sat alone in his study.
The party had been canceled.
The guests had been told that a family emergency had occurred.
The flowers remained untouched in the backyard.
The lavender dress Kayla had worn earlier was hanging in the laundry room, covered in the memory of what had happened.
On his desk lay the envelope, the notebook, and the medical report.
He had read every page twice.
But nothing explained the one question that now haunted him.
Why had Brittany believed she had a claim to Kayla?
His phone vibrated.
A message from Marcus appeared.
I've located Linda Parker. She agreed to speak with us tomorrow morning. She says she knows exactly why Renee was afraid of Brittany.
Darius stared at the screen.
Then another message arrived.
This one was from an unknown number.
There was no greeting.
No explanation.
Just one photograph.
Darius opened it.
His blood ran cold.
It showed a hospital nursery.
A newborn baby lay inside a transparent bassinet.
And standing beside the bassinet was a much younger Brittany.
On the back of the photograph, someone had written:
*THE BABY RENEE WAS NEVER SUPPOSED TO BRING HOME.*
Darius enlarged the image.
Then he noticed something near the bottom.
A hospital identification bracelet.
The name printed on it wasn't Kayla's.
It wasn't Renee's either.
It was Brittany's.
And beneath that name was a date.
The date Kayla was born.
Darius stared at the photograph, unable to breathe.
His phone vibrated again.
A second message appeared.
Ask Linda what happened in the delivery room. Brittany has been lying to you about Kayla since the beginning.
Darius immediately called Marcus.
When the attorney answered, Darius's voice was shaking.
“Forget tomorrow morning.””
“What happened?””
“I need Linda here tonight.””
“Darius, what's going on?””
He looked at the photograph again.
Then he whispered:
May you like
“I think my daughter has been at the center of a secret for six years.””
*And for the first time, he began to wonder whether the woman who had shaved Kayla's curls was hiding something far more horrifying than jealousy.*
