CHAPTER 2: THE VOICE UNDER THE BED
CHAPTER 2: THE VOICE UNDER THE BED
Rachel's white shoes stopped inches from the edge of the mattress.
Deborah could hear her own heartbeat pounding louder than the cardiac monitor still beeping beside the empty bed. Every muscle in her body screamed from childbirth, but she forced herself not to move.
Thomas let out the tiniest sigh.
Please... not now.
Lily's small hand pressed harder over her mother's mouth, silently begging her to stay still.
Above them, Michael's voice cracked.
"What injection?"
Rachel laughed softly.
"You don't have to pretend anymore."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh, stop." Her tone turned cold. "You told me your wife only existed because she couldn't give you a child. Then she finally has one after seven years, and suddenly I'm supposed to disappear? That's not how this works."
Deborah felt the world tilt.
Had Michael really said those things?
Or was Rachel lying?
Michael answered after several agonizing seconds.
"I was stupid enough to complain about my marriage. That's all."
"You kissed me."
"I made a mistake."
"You slept with me."
Another silence.
"I know."
"And now you're choosing her?"
"I chose my family the moment Thomas was born."
Rachel let out a bitter laugh.
"You should have chosen sooner."
Something metallic clicked.
Deborah knew that sound.
The plastic cap coming off a syringe.
Michael took a cautious step backward.
"Rachel... put that down."
"You don't get to tell me what to do anymore."
"Whatever fantasy you've built in your head—it ends now."
"My fantasy?"
Her voice rose sharply.
"I spent eighteen months listening to every complaint you had."
"'My wife doesn't understand me.'"
"'She's obsessed with fertility treatments.'"
"'Everything in our house revolves around doctors.'"
"You told me you were trapped."
"I was venting."
"You promised we'd have a future."
"I never promised that."
"You absolutely did."
"No."
"You're lying."
"I told you it was over six weeks ago."
Deborah squeezed her eyes shut.
Affair.
There really had been one.
Not imagined.
Not misunderstood.
Real.
The betrayal sliced through her even deeper than the stitches from delivery.
Yet another thought struck her almost instantly.
If Rachel believed Michael had abandoned her...
Then neither of them was controlling what happened next.
That made her even more dangerous.
Rachel suddenly ripped the blanket from the bed.
The movement sent the fabric fluttering to the floor only inches from Deborah's face.
The space beneath the bed filled with light.
Deborah held Thomas tighter.
Please don't look down.
Please.
Rachel searched around the room.
"Bathroom?"
The bathroom door opened.
Closed.
Closet.
Empty.
"Where did she go?"
Michael looked genuinely confused.
"I thought she was here."
"She couldn't have gone far."
Rachel began walking around the room.
Every step echoed through the floor.
She checked behind the privacy curtain.
She looked beside the bassinet.
She even opened the cabinet drawers.
Only one place remained.
The floor beneath the bed.
Lily's fingers started trembling.
Deborah wrapped an arm around her daughter.
"It's okay," she mouthed silently.
It wasn't.
Not even close.
Rachel knelt.
One knee touched the floor.
Deborah could see the edge of her uniform.
Another inch.
She'd look underneath.
Another inch.
They were finished.
Then—
A loud voice exploded from the hallway.
"Code Blue! Room 418!"
Running footsteps thundered outside.
Several nurses rushed past.
Rachel froze.
She cursed under her breath.
Michael immediately seized the opportunity.
"Rachel."
"What?"
"Give me the syringe."
"No."
"People are coming."
"I don't care."
"You should."
"I've already lost everything."
"You haven't."
"Haven't I?"
"You can still walk away."
"No."
Michael took another step.
"Please."
Rachel stared at him.
For one heartbreaking moment, Deborah almost believed she would hand it over.
Instead—
Rachel shoved him backward.
Hard.
Michael crashed into the visitor chair.
It slammed into the wall.
The noise echoed down the hallway.
"What happened in here?"
A different nurse appeared in the doorway.
Rachel spun around so quickly her smile returned as though someone had flipped a switch.
"Oh! Mr. Collins tripped."
The new nurse frowned.
"Are you all right, sir?"
Michael looked at Rachel.
Then toward the bed.
Then toward the floor.
His eyes briefly met Deborah's beneath the frame.
For the first time...
He knew exactly where she was.
His face changed.
He understood.
He understood she had heard everything.
He understood Lily was with her.
He understood there would never be another secret.
Without missing a beat, he forced a weak smile.
"Yeah."
"I slipped."
The nurse nodded.
"I'll send someone to help."
As she turned to leave, Rachel quietly slipped the syringe into her pocket.
No one noticed.
Except Deborah.
The door closed again.
Rachel looked furious.
"You almost ruined everything."
Michael stood slowly.
"No."
"You did."
"I'm done protecting you."
Rachel's eyes narrowed.
"What does that mean?"
"It means I'm calling security."
"You wouldn't."
"I already should have."
"If you do..." Rachel whispered, "...I'll tell your wife every single thing."
Michael looked toward the bed again.
His voice became almost unbearably quiet.
"She already knows."
Rachel's face drained of color.
"What?"
"I said..."
"She already knows."
For three endless seconds, no one moved.
Then Rachel slowly turned toward the bed.
Toward the empty mattress.
Toward the blanket hanging almost to the floor.
Her expression changed from confusion...
...to suspicion.
She took one deliberate step forward.
Then another.
Finally, she crouched until one eye aligned with the darkness beneath the hospital bed.
Deborah stared back at her.
May you like
Rachel smiled.
"I found you."
