Chapter 4 - The Call From St. Catherine’s
Daniel learned where Claire was because Thomas Holloway called him.
Not Maya.
Not Claire.
Thomas.
“You need to get to Vermont.”
Daniel was already standing.
“What happened?”
“She may be in trouble.”
“What do you mean may?”
“I was speaking to her. The call dropped. Maya says there’s a storm moving through the area.”
Daniel grabbed his coat.
“Where?”
Thomas gave him the address.
Daniel stopped.
“You knew where she was.”
“Yes.”
“And you didn't tell me.”
“She didn't want you there.”
“Then why tell me now?”
Thomas was silent.
Daniel’s anger sharpened.
“What did you do?”
“Get to Claire first.”
Daniel hung up.
The drive took nearly four hours.
Snow turned the interstate into a blurred tunnel of brake lights and white sky.
Daniel called Claire every ten minutes.
No answer.
Maya, who had been furious when she learned Thomas had given away the cabin, was now driving from Boston.
Police in the nearest town had been contacted but warned response times were slow because of the weather.
When Daniel finally reached the narrow road leading to the cabin, it was almost dark.
Claire’s rental car sat outside under a layer of snow.
The front door was unlocked.
“Claire!”
Nothing.
He found her on the kitchen floor.
She was conscious.
Barely.
A blanket was wrapped around her legs.
Her phone lay beside her.
Daniel dropped to his knees.
“Claire.”
Her eyes opened.
For one second she looked relieved.
Then she remembered everything.
Her face hardened.
“What are you doing here?”
“Your father called me.”
She closed her eyes.
“Of course he did.”
Daniel saw blood on the blanket.
Fear ripped through him.
“We're going to the hospital.”
“I already called emergency services. They said—”
“I don't care what they said.”
He lifted her.
Claire stiffened.
“Put me down.”
“No.”
“Daniel.”
“You can hate me in the car.”
Her fingers clutched his coat despite herself.
He carried her through the snow.
The nearest hospital was thirty-seven minutes away under normal conditions.
It took fifty-one.
Daniel remembered each one.
Claire sat reclined with both hands over her stomach.
Neither spoke much.
At one point, she whispered, “If something happens to the baby…”
Daniel’s grip tightened on the wheel.
“Don't.”
“You don't know.”
“Neither do you.”
Her eyes filled.
He wanted to reach for her.
He didn't.
At the hospital, doctors took Claire immediately.
Daniel waited outside.
Again.
It felt appropriate somehow.
He had become a man who waited on the wrong side of doors.
Maya arrived an hour later.
She didn't yell this time.
She simply sat three chairs away.
“Thank you for finding her.”
Daniel nodded.
“That doesn't change anything.”
“I know.”
Another hour passed.
Finally, a doctor appeared.
“The baby still has cardiac activity.”
Claire’s sister began crying.
Daniel bowed his head.
The doctor continued.
“The bleeding is concerning, but we don't see evidence of pregnancy loss right now. We do want her transferred back to St. Catherine’s tomorrow if the weather allows.”
“Can I see her?” Daniel asked.
The doctor looked toward Maya.
Maya sighed.
“She asked for him.”
Daniel looked up.
Claire was pale against the white hospital sheets.
He entered slowly.
She watched him.
“You look terrible,” she said.
Daniel almost smiled.
“So do you.”
“Thanks.”
“You started it.”
A tiny expression moved across her face.
Almost familiar.
Then it disappeared.
Daniel sat in the chair beside the bed.
“Your father sent the photos.”
Claire looked toward the window.
“I know.”
“Lauren told you?”
“She came to the cabin.”
Daniel frowned.
“She what?”
“Don't start acting protective now.”
He absorbed the blow.
“Fair.”
Claire looked at him.
“That doesn't mean what happened between you wasn't real.”
“I know.”
“Say it.”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“I kissed her.”
“And?”
He looked at Claire.
“I wanted to.”
Her eyes closed.
He hated himself for the pain that moved across her face.
But she had asked for truth.
So he gave it.
“I was angry. Lonely. Flattered. Selfish. None of that excuses it.”
Claire looked back at him.
“Did you sleep with her?”
“No.”
“Would you have?”
Daniel paused.
It would have been easy to say no.
Instead:
“I don't know.”
Claire stared at him.
He saw the answer hurt.
He also saw something else.
Relief.
Not because it was good.
Because it was honest.
Daniel leaned forward.
“I don't want to lie to keep you.”
“You already lost me.”
“I know.”
Her voice cracked.
“Then why are you here?”
“Because you were bleeding alone in a storm.”
“And if I hadn't been?”
Daniel took a breath.
“I would still want to be here.”
Claire looked away.
After a while, she said, “My father told me about Michael.”
Daniel went still.
“What did he say?”
“That the heart condition didn't kill him.”
Daniel frowned.
“My parents said sudden cardiac arrest.”
“He said there was an accident.”
“What kind?”
“He wouldn't tell me.”
Daniel sat back.
Claire watched him.
“Did you know your mother talked to my father about my pregnancy?”
“No.”
“They’ve both been interfering.”
“I know.”
“Why?”
Daniel had wondered the same thing.
Then a memory surfaced.
Something Richard had said years ago.
Thomas owes this family more than he'll ever repay.
Daniel had assumed it was business rivalry.
Maybe it wasn't.
“My father knows something,” he said.
Claire nodded.
“Mine too.”
Silence.
Two broken families.
One unborn child.
And decades of secrets somehow converging around them.
Claire shifted and winced.
Daniel stood automatically.
“Do you need the nurse?”
“No.”
He remained standing.
“Sit down. You're making me nervous.”
He sat.
For several minutes, they listened to the monitor.
Then Claire said, “The doctor found a thickening near the baby's heart.”
Daniel’s chest tightened.
“They said it may mean nothing.”
“May.”
“Or it could be inherited.”
Daniel nodded.
“I'll get tested.”
“I already scheduled you.”
He looked at her.
Claire gave a tired laugh.
“Before I found you with Lauren.”
That sentence was becoming a blade.
Every plan she had made for them existed in a world that ended when she opened the study door.
“I'll do whatever they ask.”
“This isn't about earning points.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
His answer came softly.
“I don't expect you to forgive me because I show up at appointments.”
Claire’s eyes filled.
“Good.”
Daniel looked toward the floor.
“I don't know how to fix this.”
“You can't.”
He raised his eyes.
Claire swallowed.
“You keep talking about fixing things. Like our marriage is a contract with a bad clause.”
Daniel almost winced.
“That sounds like me.”
“It is you.”
“What should I say?”
“The truth.”
He nodded.
“The truth is I am terrified you'll never love me again.”
Claire's face changed.
Daniel continued.
“And I deserve that possibility.”
She looked down at her hands.
“The truth is I still love you.”
He stopped breathing.
Claire wiped a tear away.
“And I hate that I do.”
Daniel’s eyes burned.
He said nothing.
For once, he understood that her love was not an invitation.
It was part of her pain.
The next morning, they were transferred to St. Catherine’s.
Daniel rode separately.
He respected the boundary.
At noon, Dr. Elena Park met with Claire, Maya, and Daniel.
Claire had reluctantly allowed him inside.
Dr. Park placed several images on the screen.
“The baby is stable.”
Everyone exhaled.
“But we still have concerns.”
She pointed to one image.
“There is a slight thickening of the ventricular wall. Too early to diagnose. We need genetic testing from both parents and follow-up imaging.”
Daniel nodded.
“Anything.”
Dr. Park looked at him.
“Do you have family history of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?”
“Yes.”
Claire glanced at him.
“My uncle.”
“Anyone else?”
“I don't know.”
Dr. Park wrote something.
Then she looked at Claire.
“There’s another issue.”
Claire stiffened.
“Your blood pressure remains higher than we'd like.”
“I've been stressed.”
“Stress may contribute, but we can't assume that's all it is.”
“What are you saying?”
“We're watching for early signs of a hypertensive pregnancy complication. It is too early to diagnose, but given the bleeding, blood pressure, and your lab results, I want very close monitoring.”
Daniel's face tightened.
“Can it hurt her?”
“Yes.”
“Can it hurt the baby?”
“Yes.”
Claire reached for her water.
Her hand shook.
Daniel didn't touch her.
Dr. Park continued.
“We're not predicting a bad outcome. We are telling you we need vigilance.”
Then the door opened.
A nurse leaned inside.
“Dr. Park? Sorry. There’s a gentleman asking for Mr. Bennett.”
Daniel frowned.
“Who?”
“Richard Bennett.”
Daniel looked at Claire.
His father never came to hospitals.
Not since Michael.
Daniel stepped into the corridor.
Richard stood near the windows.
He looked twenty years older than he had two days earlier.
“We need to talk.”
“About Michael?”
Richard nodded.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Tell me.”
Richard looked toward Claire's room.
“I heard the baby may have the same condition.”
“Tell me what happened.”
His father sat.
Daniel remained standing.
Richard rubbed his hands together.
“Michael collapsed at a party.”
“From his heart?”
“Yes. But he was still alive.”
Daniel went cold.
“What happened after?”
“We had been drinking.”
Richard’s voice cracked.
“A lot.”
Daniel stared.
“Who was driving?”
Richard looked up.
“Thomas.”
Daniel's breath caught.
“Claire’s father?”
“Yes.”
“He crashed?”
“No.”
Richard shook his head.
“Michael collapsed in the back seat while Thomas was driving. We panicked. Instead of calling an ambulance immediately, we drove him to a private clinic because there were drugs at the party and Thomas was afraid of police.”
Daniel felt sick.
“How long?”
“Twenty-six minutes.”
“Twenty-six minutes?”
“He died before we got there.”
Daniel stepped backward.
“And you all covered it up.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Fear. Shame. Powerful parents.”
Richard looked broken.
“Pick whichever answer makes you hate me less.”
Daniel stared at his father.
Then Richard said something worse.
“Thomas has blamed our family ever since.”
“Why your family?”
“Because my father was the one who arranged the cover story.”
Daniel's mind raced.
Claire's father had spent decades hating the Bennetts.
Now Daniel had married his daughter.
“What does this have to do with the photos?”
Richard looked toward the hospital room.
“Thomas never wanted Claire to marry you.”
Daniel’s stomach turned.
“He engineered this.”
“He gave you an opportunity to fail.”
Richard's eyes darkened.
“You did the rest.”
Daniel said nothing.
Because that was the truth.
A nurse rushed past them toward Claire's room.
Then another.
Daniel turned.
Dr. Park appeared in the doorway.
“Mr. Bennett.”
Something in her face stopped his heart.
“What?”
“We need to move Claire upstairs.”
“Why?”
“Her blood pressure has spiked significantly.”
Daniel was already moving.
Then an alarm sounded inside the room.
And Dr. Park said:
May you like
“We need everyone out. Now.”
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