Chapter 5 - A Baby in Her Arms
The third floor erupted into panic.
Nurses pulled frightened parents into patient rooms.
Security doors slammed shut one after another.
The hospital's emergency lockdown echoed through every hallway.
"Code Pink. Code Pink. Infant abduction in progress."
My heart stopped.
Emily had done it.
Somehow, despite every warning, she had reached the maternity wing.
Detective Sarah Mills raced toward the elevators, but Alex grabbed her arm.
"She won't use the elevators."
"How do you know?"
"Because she planned this."
He pulled up another file on his phone.
"The hospital blueprints."
His finger traced a narrow hallway behind the nursery.
"There's a staff staircase here."
The detective didn't waste another second.
"Split up!"
Within moments, officers flooded every stairwell.
Alex and I followed as far as the third floor before officers stopped us.
"You stay here."
Every second felt like an hour.
Then—
A baby's cry echoed from somewhere above us.
One officer shouted through his radio.
"We have movement on the fourth-floor stairs!"
Another answered.
"Negative! She doubled back!"
Emily knew the building almost as well as the staff.
She had memorized every escape route.
Suddenly, a young nurse stumbled into the hallway, shaking uncontrollably.
"She... she pointed a fire extinguisher at me."
"What baby?" Detective Mills asked.
The nurse burst into tears.
"It wasn't hers."
She held out trembling hands.
"She kept saying..."
The nurse swallowed.
"'If I leave empty-handed, my life is over.'"
Alex closed his eyes.
"She's desperate."
Just then, another officer's voice exploded over the radio.
"We found the infant."
Everyone froze.
"The baby is safe."
Relief swept through the hallway.
The little girl had been abandoned inside a supply closet, wrapped tightly in a hospital blanket.
She was crying—but unharmed.
Emily had left her behind.
Not out of kindness.
Because someone had cornered her.
"Suspect still running!"
Footsteps thundered through the stairwell.
Emily burst onto the third floor.
Her dress was torn.
Her fake pregnancy padding was gone.
Her mascara streaked her face.
She looked less like a loving expectant mother...
And more like someone who had lost everything.
She spotted me.
For one brief second, we simply stared at each other.
"Emily," I whispered.
"Please."
She shook her head.
"You don't understand."
"I've understood enough."
"No."
Her voice cracked.
"I've already lost one baby."
The hallway fell silent.
My breath caught.
"What did you say?"
Tears rolled down her cheeks.
"I really was pregnant..."
No one moved.
"But I miscarried."
She laughed bitterly.
"Eight months ago."
"My doctor said there was no heartbeat."
"My husband left."
"My friends disappeared."
"Everyone stopped calling."
She looked straight at our mother.
"You only came back when you thought I was pregnant again."
Mom collapsed into Dad's arms, sobbing.
Emily smiled through her tears.
"So I kept wearing the belly."
"I couldn't bear becoming invisible again."
Detective Mills stepped forward carefully.
"You need to come with us."
Emily slowly backed toward a large window overlooking the parking garage.
"No."
"Emily..."
"I'm not going to prison."
She climbed onto the wide concrete ledge beneath the window.
Every officer raised their hands.
"No sudden movements."
The wind whipped through the broken emergency window.
Forty feet below...
Concrete.
May you like
One step backward...
And it would all be over.
