I couldn't feel my hands.
“Who entered her room?”
The detective listened to the radio.
“No identification yet.”
“Then find out.”
She signaled to the officers.
We ran.
Daniel was ahead of me.
I followed with the detective.
The drive back felt endless.
Every red light became unbearable.
Every passing second seemed stolen.
When we reached the hospital, security had already sealed the corridor.
A nurse was crying near the nurses’ station.
“Where is my daughter?”
She pointed.
“She's inside.”
I ran.
Emily was sitting upright in her bed.
A nurse stood beside her.
She looked frightened.
“Mom.”
I grabbed her.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“Did anyone hurt you?”
“No.”
“Who came in?”
She looked at Daniel.
Then at the detective.
Then back at me.
“I thought it was you.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
“The person wore your coat.”
I looked down.
My coat was gone.
I had left it at the clinic.
Daniel stared at me.
“Mercer.”
“No,” I said.
Emily shook her head.
“Not him.”
“Then who?”
She pointed toward the hallway.
“Her.”
The detective turned.
A woman stood several feet away.
She was one of the nurses who had been treating Emily.
The nurse's face went pale.
“You.”
The detective stepped toward her.
“Stay where you are.”
The nurse raised her hands.
“I didn't do anything.”
Emily began crying.
“She gave me the medicine.”
The woman shook her head.
“No.”
Daniel moved forward.
“You gave her the bottle.”
“I was following orders.”
“Whose orders?”
She looked toward the floor.
“Mercer.”
The detective arrested her.
As officers led her away, she shouted something.
“You don't understand!”
Everyone stopped.
She looked at Emily.
“He wasn't trying to kill her.”
I felt cold.
“Then what was he trying to do?”
The nurse swallowed.
“He was trying to make her remember.”
“Remember what?”
“The first night.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“What first night?”
Emily closed her eyes.
“I remember.”
She whispered.
“I remember everything.”
The room became silent.
“What happened?” I asked.
Emily looked at me.
“When I was eight, Dad took me to the clinic.”
Daniel nodded.
“I thought I was taking you for tests.”
“You left me there.”
“I was outside.”
“Mercer told me you were gone.”
Daniel covered his face.
Emily continued.
“He said you didn't want me anymore.”
I stared at Daniel.
He looked shattered.
“He told me you signed the papers.”
“I never did.”
“I know now.”
“What happened next?”
“He gave me the medicine.”
Her voice trembled.
“Then it started hurting.”
Dr. Harris stepped closer.
“How long?”
“Minutes.”
“And what did Mercer do?”
“He wrote things down.”
“What things?”
“How much I cried.”
My chest tightened.
“He wasn't treating you.”
Emily shook her head.
“He was measuring me.”
Daniel began crying.
“I should have stayed.”
“You didn't know.”
“I should have stayed.”
Emily looked at him.
“I wanted you to.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
She reached for his hand.
He took it.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then the detective entered with the evidence bag.
“We found something else.”
She placed a small recording device on the table.
“This was hidden beneath Emily's bed.”
Daniel stared at it.
“That's his.”
“Mercer's?”
“Yes.”
The detective pressed play.
Static filled the room.
Then a man's voice.
Mercer.
“Subject reports pain after administration.”
A pause.
“Memory suppression remains effective.”
Another pause.
Then:
“Mother remains unaware.”
I felt sick.
The recording continued.
“Father has become unreliable.”
Daniel looked at the floor.
“Next phase will require controlled recall.”
The recording ended.
I stared at the device.
“How long has that been there?”
“According to the technician, at least several weeks.”
I looked at Emily.
“He was listening to you.”
She nodded.
“He wanted to know if I remembered.”
“Why?”
“Because I heard something.”
“What?”
She looked toward Daniel.
“Dad told someone to stop.”
Daniel frowned.
“When?”
“Before we left the clinic.”
He slowly remembered.
“I argued with Mercer.”
“What did you say?”
“I told him I was taking Emily away.”
“And he said?”
Emily answered.
“He said if I left, Mom would be next.”
I felt the room go still.
“What?”
Daniel looked at me.
“I never told you because I thought he was threatening me.”
“He was threatening me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you had access to her medical records.”
I shook my head.
“I didn't.”
“You did.”
“How?”
Daniel looked at the folder.
“Because you worked for the hospital.”
I stared at him.
Years ago, before Emily's symptoms became severe, I had worked briefly in medical administration.
I had forgotten how much access I once had.
“Mercer thought I could find something.”
“You think he targeted Emily because of me?”
“No.”
Daniel looked at Emily.
“I think he targeted both of you.”
The detective's phone rang.
She answered.
Her face changed.
“What?”
She listened.
“Where?”
A pause.
“Send the photograph.”
Seconds later, an image appeared on her screen.
It showed Mercer entering a rural property.
Behind him was a white building.
I recognized it.
It was the address from the file.
The facility where children were supposedly transferred after their memories returned.
The detective looked at us.
“We need to go.”
Daniel stood.
Emily grabbed his sleeve.
“Dad.”
He turned.
“Don't leave me again.”
His face crumpled.
“I won't.”
I took Emily's hand.
“We're all going.”
The detective hesitated.
“You shouldn't bring her.”
Emily looked at her.
“I know where the children are.”
Everyone froze.
“What did you say?”
Emily swallowed.
“I remember the building.”
“How?”
“Mercer showed me once.”
“What did you see?”
Emily looked at me.
“Children.”
My heart stopped.
“How many?”
She closed her eyes.
Then whispered:
“Seven.”
Daniel looked at her.
“But there were only six names.”
Emily shook her head.
“No.”
She looked toward the folder.
“There was one more.”
“Who?”
Emily's face changed.
She looked terrified.
“It was me.”
Click here to continue reading: PART 9: The Seventh Name Changed Everything, Because Emily Remembered a Room Where the Children Had Been Taken After Their Memories Returned
The Moment My Daughter Stopped Crying, She Looked Past Me and Whispered Something That Made the Emergency Room Go Quiet
Part 8 of 12
