Chapter 2 - The Pediatric Ward
The drive to Portland General Hospital was a blur of traffic lights and windshield wipers. I couldn't feel the freezing rain clinging to my skin; I could only feel the overwhelming, suffocating presence of betrayal.
I found Julian in the pediatric wing, pacing outside Room 402. He looked exhausted, his broad shoulders tense, a paper cup of coffee crushing in his grip. He looked up as I approached, his dark eyes grim.
"She's physically unharmed, Tommy," Julian said before I could even open my mouth. His voice was low, grave. "The doctors ran a full tox screen. Not a single scratch on her."
"The blood?" I asked, my voice cracking, the image of the man in my hallway flashing behind my eyes.
"O-positive. It belongs to the guy in your wall," Julian replied, leaning against the sterile white corridor. "I didn't call the cops, man. Not yet. Because the second I do, Chloe goes into the system until they clear you, and Vanessa becomes the subject of a nationwide manhunt. I needed you to see the house first. I needed you to understand that your wife didn't just snap. This was a professional hit."
I pushed past him and opened the door to the hospital room.
Chloe looked so incredibly tiny in the standard-issue hospital bed. She had been bathed, her dark hair damp and combed back, dressed in a fresh gown. She was staring at the ceiling, her eyes completely detached from reality.
"Chloe?" I whispered, pulling a plastic chair to the edge of her bed. I reached out and gently took her small, cold hand. "Daddy's here. I'm right here, sweetie."
For a long, agonizing minute, she didn't blink. Then, slowly, she turned her head. Her green eyes, so much like her mother's, locked onto mine. But there was no warmth in them.
"Mommy said you were the monster," she whispered, her voice rasping. "She told me you were never coming back."
"No, baby, I'm right here. I was just in Seattle for work."
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"Mommy brought a man to the house," Chloe continued, her voice devoid of emotion. "He wanted a box. Mommy got mad. She used the big knife from the block. The one you use for the turkey. She hurt him, Daddy. And then she looked at me and said... she said I was a loose end. But she didn't want to make a mess on the carpet. So she pushed me outside in the rain."
My wife hadn't spared our daughter out of love. She had spared her out of convenience. I felt a violent, primal rage ignite inside my chest.
