Chapter 4 - The Nurse With a Secret
Norah didn't recognize the photograph immediately.
It showed her outside St. Catherine's Medical Center, exhausted after a double shift. Her hair was tied back, her uniform was wrinkled, and she was carrying a paper bag containing a sandwich she had never gotten around to eating.
It had been taken three years earlier.
The same night Elena Rossi died.
Dominic stared at her.
"Explain."
"I don't know who sent that message."
"That's not an explanation."
"No, it's the truth."
He tried to rise from the bed.
Pain stopped him halfway, but the fury in his eyes didn't diminish.
"You worked at St. Catherine's?"
"Yes."
"On the night Elena died?"
Norah swallowed.
"Yes."
The room seemed to shrink around them.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you never asked where I used to work."
"You knew who I was when you walked through those gates."
"I knew your reputation. I didn't know your sister's name until last night."
He looked toward the photograph again.
"You're lying."
Norah could have argued. Instead, she pulled a chair closer to the bed.
"Three years ago, I was an emergency nurse. A woman came in after a highway accident. She was unconscious, and the ambulance crew couldn't identify her at first. I helped the trauma team stabilize her."
Dominic went completely still.
"Was she alive?"
"For a little while."
His left hand closed around the blanket.
"Did she say anything?"
Norah's throat tightened.
"I remember her asking for a child. I don't remember her exact words."
"Mateo."
"Possibly."
"Did she ask for me?"
Norah hesitated.
That hesitation was enough.
Dominic's face changed.
"She did."
"I can't be certain."
"Tell me!"
His shout echoed through the bedroom.
Norah stood.
"I won't invent memories to satisfy you. I was responsible for several patients that night. I remember a woman who was frightened and in terrible pain. I remember trying to keep her conscious. I remember someone arriving before the attending physician finished documenting the case."
"Who?"
"A man in a dark suit. He said he was family."
Dominic's breathing quickened.
"Did you see his face?"
"No. He stayed near the doors."
"Did you let him take her?"
"She was transferred to surgery. I wasn't the person who authorized anything after that."
"Convenient."
The word struck harder than Norah expected.
She reached into her bag and retrieved her old nursing license, a folded employment letter, and the contact information for a former colleague.
"I left the hospital six months after the accident. I can give you everything I remember, but I won't accept blame for something I didn't do."
Dominic didn't take the papers.
"Get out."
Norah stared at him.
"You need your next medication in twenty minutes."
"Get out of my room."
She placed the medication and instructions on the bedside table.
"Dr. Bennett is on his way. If you develop chest pain, worsening breathing, confusion, or a rising fever, someone needs to get immediate medical help. I won't pretend otherwise just because you're angry with me."
Then she left.
Downstairs, Leo intercepted her near the front entrance.
"You should go," he said.
"Is that an order?"
"It's advice."
"Does Dominic know about the message?"
"Of course."
Norah adjusted the strap of her bag.
"Who sent it?"
Leo looked toward the security cameras.
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
His face hardened.
"You've been here two days. You have no idea what you're stepping into."
"Then help me understand."
For the first time, Leo looked genuinely frightened.
"Elena wasn't supposed to be in that car."
Norah stopped.
"What does that mean?"
Before he could answer, the front doors opened.
A woman entered wearing a cream coat and carrying a black leather handbag. Her blond hair was immaculate, and diamonds flashed at her ears.
She looked Norah up and down.
"So this is the nurse."
Leo straightened.
"Miss Whitmore."
"Victoria," she corrected.
Norah recognized the name. Dr. Bennett had mentioned that Dominic's fiancée would be visiting once his condition improved.
Victoria Whitmore offered a polished smile.
"Mr. Rossi is very upset with you."
"He'll survive."
Victoria's smile vanished.
"You should be careful. People have lost everything for much less than what you've done."
"Then perhaps you should tell me what I've done."
Victoria stepped closer.
"You've reminded Dominic of a night he has spent three years trying to forget."
Norah studied her face.
There was no grief there.
Only calculation.
"How well did you know Elena?" Norah asked.
Victoria's fingers tightened around her handbag.
"Not well enough to mourn her."
Then she walked upstairs.
Norah remained by the door, unable to shake the feeling that she had just heard a confession disguised as indifference.
Ten minutes later, Leo returned with a sealed envelope.
"Your wages," he said.
Norah stared at him.
"He's firing me?"
"He says you're not to return."
She took the envelope, but she didn't leave.
Instead, she looked toward the staircase.
"Tell Dominic one thing for me."
Leo waited.
"If he wants to know what happened to his sister, he should stop asking the people who benefit from his guilt."
She walked out into the rain.
Across the driveway, her rusted sedan sat beneath a stone arch.
A piece of paper had been tucked under the windshield wiper.
Norah pulled it free.
Three words were written in black ink.
ASK ABOUT BENNETT.
Below them was a photograph of Dr. Samuel Bennett shaking hands with a man Norah had seen once before.
The unidentified visitor from the hospital.
And on the back, someone had written a date.
May you like
Tomorrow.
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