A small voice broke the silence: “Dad… my little sister won’t wake up. We’re so hungry.” Without a second thought, he grabbed them and rushed to the hospital. But what he learned there about their mother would change everything… 11

I nodded, unable to speak. I walked back to Micah, who was gnawing on a graham cracker a nurse had given him. “She’s okay,” I whispered to him.

He slumped against me, the tension finally leaving his tiny frame.

Just as I let myself believe the worst was over, the charge nurse approached me. Her face was unreadable. “Mr. Mercer? Can you step out here for a moment?”

I followed her into the hallway.

“We ran a routine family notification trace,” she said softly. “Another hospital flagged the mother’s information. Your ex-wife was admitted to Nashville General very early Saturday morning.”

My blood ran cold. “Admitted? For what?”

“She was in a severe car accident,” the nurse said. “She came in as a Jane Doe. Unconscious. The man driving the vehicle fled the scene on foot before paramedics arrived.”

 

Chapter 4: The Weight of the Truth

I stared at the nurse, the buzzing of the fluorescent lights suddenly deafening in my ears.

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