Chapter 2 - THE WOMAN IN THE HOSPITAL HALLWAY
David stared at Emily.
"What do you mean she was there?"
Emily looked at Lily.
Her daughter was still holding the photograph.
"Sweetheart, put that back carefully."
Lily obeyed.
David crouched beside her.
"Would you like to watch a Christmas movie?"
Lily nodded.
He turned on an animated movie in the den, gave her a blanket and lowered the volume.
Then he returned.
Emily stood beside the windows.
"I don't want to upset you."
"You already recognized her."
"Yes."
"How?"
Emily folded her arms around herself.
"Three years ago, my husband, Daniel, was brought to St. Catherine's after a crash on Interstate 71."
David said nothing.
"He was driving home from a construction job."
Her voice trembled.
"A truck crossed the median."
David's face lost color.
Emily noticed.
"What?"
"What date?"
"December twenty-third."
He took one step backward.
"What year?"
She told him.
David gripped the back of a chair.
"Claire died December twenty-third."
Now Emily understood.
"The same accident?"
David nodded slowly.
"She was in another vehicle."
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Emily had never known who else had been involved.
She had been twenty-nine.
Terrified.
Five months pregnant.
By the time she reached the hospital, Daniel was in surgery.
A woman had approached her in the hallway.
Brunette.
Blood on her sleeve.
Shaking.
The woman had asked:
"Are you Daniel Carter's wife?"
Emily had nodded.
The woman hugged her.
A stranger.
Then she said:
"I'm so sorry."
Minutes later, nurses rushed the woman away.
Emily never saw her again.
"I think Claire came to me before she died."
David sat down.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"What exactly did she say?"
"Only that she was sorry."
David's eyes sharpened.
"Nothing else?"
Emily tried to remember.
Hospital lights.
Sirens.
Blood.
Fear.
Then something returned.
"She gave me something."
David stood.
"What?"
"I forgot about it."
"What did she give you?"
"A necklace."
His face changed instantly.
"What kind?"
"Silver chain. Small blue stone."
David went completely still.
"Where is it?"
"At home."
"Emily, where?"
"In a box."
He turned away.
Ran a hand through his hair.
"That necklace belonged to Claire's mother."
Emily stared at him.
"Why would she give it to me?"
David didn't answer.
Because he already suspected the truth.
The official crash investigation had concluded that Claire lost control while trying to avoid debris.
But David had never believed that explanation completely.
Claire had called him twelve minutes before the collision.
She sounded frightened.
She said:
"David, I found something."
Then the call ended.
After Claire died, David searched her belongings.
Her phone was damaged.
Her purse disappeared from the crash scene.
And the necklace she never removed was gone.
Now it had resurfaced around the same tragedy.
With Emily.
David looked toward Lily.
"Would you take me to your apartment?"
Emily stiffened.
"Tonight?"
"I need to see the necklace."
She hesitated.
Then shook her head.
"Not with Lily."
David immediately nodded.
"You're right."
That answer mattered.
A man used to getting what he wanted had accepted her boundary without argument.
"We'll go tomorrow," he said.
Emily looked at the clock.
It was almost midnight.
"I should get Lily home."
David frowned.
"How?"
"The bus."
"The last bus left twenty minutes ago."
Emily closed her eyes.
Of course it had.
"I can call a cab."
"I'll drive you."
"No."
"Emily."
"I said no."
David paused.
She expected irritation.
Instead:
"Okay."
"I'll call a rideshare."
"I can arrange one through security."
"That's fine."
He stepped away.
Then he looked at the untouched food.
"Take it."
"I can't."
"Why?"
"Because you've already done enough."
"It's food, Emily."
She lowered her eyes.
"It isn't just food."
He understood.
Accepting dinner was one thing.
Leaving with bags could feel like charity.
David found containers anyway.
Then placed them near the door.
"You can decide."
Twenty minutes later, when the car arrived, Emily picked up both bags.
Not for herself.
For Lily.
David walked them downstairs.
Lily hugged him without warning.
"Merry Christmas, Sky Man."
David laughed.
"Merry Christmas, Lily."
As the car disappeared into the snowy street, David stood alone under the building's awning.
For the first time in four years, he did not dread Christmas morning.
He dreaded what it might reveal.
The next day, at 10:16 a.m., Emily opened an old shoebox in her bedroom closet.
Beneath Daniel's wristwatch and hospital bracelet lay the silver necklace.
She held it in her palm.
A folded piece of paper slid from beneath the lining.
Emily frowned.
She had never noticed it.
She unfolded the paper.
May you like
Three words were written in faded ink.
FIND THE RED FILE.
