Chapter 1 - THE HOSPITAL BRACELET
“Tell me what this wristband means.”
Luca Ferraro's voice was so quiet that Dr. Samuel Bennett almost wished he'd shouted.
The doctor stood beside Nora's bed, studying the narrow strip of plastic.
ST. BRIDGET'S CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
Patient: NORA QUINN
Department: PEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY — FAMILY CARE
Luca read those words again.
Then again.
Pediatric oncology.
Children's cancer.
His gaze moved toward his wife.
Nora lay beneath a cream-colored blanket, her dark hair damp against the pillow. Her skin was frighteningly pale.
“Why does my wife have a wristband from a children's cancer ward?”
Dr. Bennett looked uncomfortable.
“Mr. Ferraro, I need to examine her first.”
“Then examine her.”
Luca stepped aside.
The doctor checked Nora's pulse, blood pressure, and temperature.
Her blood pressure was low.
She was dehydrated.
And her exhaustion appeared far more serious than Luca had realized.
“When did she last eat?” the doctor asked.
Luca opened his mouth.
Then stopped.
He didn't know.
“When did she last sleep properly?”
Silence.
“Has she been experiencing dizziness?”
Luca looked toward Nora.
He remembered her gripping the dining-room chair two weeks earlier.
He'd assumed she'd stood too quickly.
He remembered her sitting down halfway up the staircase.
He'd been on a business call.
He remembered the dark circles beneath her eyes.
He'd told her she should rest.
But he'd never asked why she was tired.
“I don't know,” he admitted.
The doctor looked at him.
For the first time in years, Luca Ferraro felt ashamed.
Not because someone had challenged him.
Because the questions were simple.
And he couldn't answer a single one.
Nora stirred.
“Luca?”
He immediately approached.
“I'm here.”
Her eyes opened slightly.
She looked at the wristband in his hand.
And went still.
“Where did you get that?”
“It fell from your coat.”
Her face changed.
“Please.”
Luca sat beside her.
“Nora, whose bracelet is this?”
She looked away.
A tear slipped down her cheek.
Then she whispered:
“It's mine.”
Luca swallowed.
“Why were you at St. Bridget's?”
Nora closed her eyes.
For several seconds, she didn't speak.
May you like
Then she said something that made his blood turn cold.
“Because there's a little girl there who doesn't have anyone else.”
