“Um … no, she didn’t leave any contact information.”
“When is the last time you spoke to her?”
“Not since she came to my place, but I know they’re conducting character witness interviews. Max said they’ve called him already.”
“Let me contact DCS and see what I can learn. And, Savannah—I am happy to serve as a character witness if needed. I’ll tell them the truth—that all of your checkups have been perfect so far.”
“I appreciate that. But I still have to know—how did Madison find out the baby is a boy?”
“I’ll be honest, I’m shocked and very confused. Most of my staff have been with me for years and have always exhibited the utmost professionalism. I find it very hard to believe that anyone who works for me would violate the law and release any information about a patient against their wishes. Nevertheless, I take this claim very seriously. I want you to know I am going to question the entire staff and try to get to the bottom of this.”
Exhausted and numb, I simply nodded.
“Now, please allow my staff to call a taxi for you, to take you home, at our expense. I—”
A light knock on the door interrupted us. Another nurse poked her head in. “Sorry to interrupt, Doctor—Max Hunter is here.”
My ears perked up. “Max is here?”
“One of the other nurses called him after Ms. Mitchell … arrived,” the nurse said, avoiding my gaze.
I sighed. “I should probably talk to him anyway,” I said, feeling defeated. “He can take me home.”
Max was waiting in the lobby, combing his hands through his hair. He stood as soon as he saw me.
“Savannah, are you okay? What’s going on? They said you had some kind of … episode.”
I sighed. “Your girlfriend announced to the world today that we’re having a boy. So, yeah, you could say I’m having a bit of an episode right now.”
The muscles in Max’s jaw clenched tightly. “What? And wait—did you just say we’re … it’s … we’re having a boy?”
“What, you didn’t know?” I laughed. The absurdity of it all was almost comical.Almost.
“Max, do you really never look at your own social media?” I pulled out my phone and shoved the picture in his face.
As he read it, he raked his free hand back and forth through his hair several more times, leaving his locks pointing haphazardly in every direction. “I had no idea. I hadn’t seen this.”
Dr. Quinlan took a step toward the two of us. “Mr. Hunter, do you know how your girlfriend got this information? There were specific instructions in Ms. Mitchell’s file not to reveal the gender of your child to anyone unless she explicitly asked, herself.”
“No. I didn’t even know she had found out—”
Just then, the small bell over the main doors to the clinic trilled again. We all turned our heads at the sound. I felt a small cramp in my belly as my blood pressure instantly rose several notches.
Madison.
“There you are. Max, honey, what’s going on? I came back from the grocery store and Mrs. Franklin next door said you tore out of the apartment looking upset, saying something about the baby.” She looked around at everyone who was standing there, frozen to their spots, staring at her.
Max marched over to Madison and started talking in a low voice I couldn’t hear.
“Max, sweetie, I don’t understand, what’s wrong? What’s going on?” she asked, clearly trying hard to look concerned. “Iseverything alright with the baby?” She looked back and forth between Max and Dr. Quinlan. “Is this about Savannah’s drinking? I’ve tried to help her, Doctor—”
“Unbelievable!” I exploded. “I haven’t had a single drink since I found out I was pregnant!”
“Madison, how did you find out the baby was a boy?” Max asked, interrupting her.
Madison smirked, like he was asking a silly question. “What do you mean, how did I find out? She told me, of course. I figured she’d told you too.”
“What?” I took a few steps toward them, my eyes narrowed. How could she lie so—so—easily? “Like hell I did, Madison!Ididn’t even know!”
