The Inpatient Department was packed. Some of the patients were not assigned to a hospital room, and they had no choice but to sleep In
the hallway. A majority of them, who had been in the hospital for a long time, were severely ill.
They had been around when I was admitted
to the hospital, and they were still here when I was discharged. As I walked along the
hallway, I saw some familiar faces.
An elderly man asked,
"Weren't you discharged? Why are you in the hospital again?"
"Well, I fell down the stairs a few days ago,"
I said honestly. After all, I wanted to know
if any of them witnessed or caught the
incident on camera, but I couldn't tell them everything either.
"The staircase was slippery; I think somebody did something to it. I wanted to see if any
security cameras may have records of the
culprit or if anybody accidentally filmed it."
The old man advised, "Security cameras? There's one
in the hallway. You should be able to check
the footage in the security room."
"Okay, thanks! I'll check it out now,"
I said happily. The security footage would
make everything much easier.
People rarely used the stairway in the
Inpatient Department; it was silent.
Meanwhile, the place where I once fell had been cleaned, and no trace of blood could
be seen.
I looked up and saw a security camera above me. Then, I walked down the stairs.
To no surprise, there was a security camera
above the place where I previously fell.
This meant that the hospital had a lot
of security cameras, even in obsolete places
like the stairway. I felt relieved at that
discovery.
I went to the security room and told them about what had happened. With the reason of wanting to identify the unknown
liquid in the. stairway that led to my
miscarriage, I demanded the security footage.
The security team reluctantly showed me the footage from the approximate time when the
incident happened. But to my surprise, all the security cameras were covered.
I was stunned.
That meant that even if I knew that it was
jessica who had been behind everything,
I wouldn't have any evidence!
The security guard said guiltily,
"When we realized that something was off, we were going to investigate it. But as soon
as we arrived, we heard news that somebody fell."
Zachary was a child, and the security cameras would never have crossed his mind.
That meant that the only person who knew
about everything and was also meticulous enough to think of wiping the evidence…
It would have been none other than Jessica. After taking some time to compose myself,
I calmly said, "Sorry for troubling you. Upon
arriving home from the hospital, I changed
into slippers in the foyer, Zane was working in the living room. When he h door, he said without turning around, "Annalise, come here"
I sat down across from him. Zane got up and went to the refrigerator. He asked, "Would you like anything to drink?"
I never enjoyed beverages. But since he
asked, I answered politely, "Water is fine.
Zane got himself a glass of iced coffee,
and then he served me a glass of water. After all the busyness in the day, I was getting a little thirsty. I took a few sips of the water that
Zane gave me
"It's your first day here. You were getting Willow to eat and even sent her to school, so I had no opportunity to ask if you needed anything.
If there's anything you need, you can let me
know anytime. I can get the housekeeper
to buy what you need."
I had expected Zane to talk to me about
Willow, but I hadn't expected him to be
concerned for me instead.
After a momentary shock, I answered politely, "Thank you, but I've brought everything I
need. I don't need anything right now."
Zane's usual icy, emotionless eyes curved into a slight smile. He said, "You don't have to
be so polite with me. Willow genuinely thinks of you as her mother, so you can make yourself at home."
I paused. If this was home…