Chapter 5: What Ryan Was Hiding
Daniel arrived at 8:52 the next morning, seven minutes before Ryan.
He was younger than I expected — early forties, dark suit, a leather folder tucked under one arm.
He shook my hand and Paula's, set the folder on the bedside table, and spoke quickly.
"I made some calls last night.
The hospital's legal department has already been notified that you have retained counsel.
That changes things.
They will be more careful now, but they will also be more cooperative, because the last thing they want is for this to become a lawsuit before they've had a chance to assess their own exposure."
"What did you find?" I asked.
"Gerald Marsh has been the hospital administrator here for eleven years.
He has no formal disciplinary record.
But three years ago, there was a quiet internal review after a NICU incident — a different family, a different outcome.
The review was closed without findings." He opened the folder.
"The attending physician on that case was a Dr.
Harlan Webb."
I didn't recognize the name.
"Who is he?"
"He was the attending on call the night your son d*ed."
The door opened.
Ryan walked in with two coffees and stopped when he saw Daniel.
His smile didn't disappear.
It just went very careful.
"I didn't realize we had company," he said.
"Ryan, this is Daniel Okafor.
He's an attorney.
I've asked him to help me understand what happened."
Ryan set the coffees down slowly.
"An attorney," he said.
"Yes."
"Don't you think that's — I mean, sweetheart, we're still in the hospital.
We're still grieving.
Don't you think this is a little—"
"No," I said.
"I don't."
Ryan looked at Daniel.
"I'm not sure what she's told you," he said, "but this is a family matter.
We lost a child.
My wife is still recovering.
I don't think this is the right time to—"
"Mr.
Calloway," Daniel said, "I'm not here to speak with you.
I'm here to advise your wife.
If you have concerns, you're welcome to have your own attorney present."
Something moved behind Ryan's eyes.
"I don't need an attorney," he said.
"I haven't done anything wrong."
"Then you have nothing to worry about," Daniel said pleasantly.
Ryan picked up his coffee.
He looked at me for a long moment.
"Can we talk privately?" he said.
"Just us?"
"No," I said.
His jaw tightened.
Then he nodded, once, like he was deciding something.
"Okay," he said.
"Okay.
I'm going to step out and make a call."
He left.
Daniel watched the door close.
"He's calling someone," he said.
"Gerald Marsh?" Paula said.
"Possibly.
Or his own attorney, which would be smarter." Daniel turned back to me.
"I need to tell you what else I found.
Last night I pulled public records.
Ryan took out a life insurance policy on both twins fourteen months ago.
Standard enough.
But six weeks ago, he changed the beneficiary structure."
I stared at him.
"He separated them," Daniel said.
"Twin A and Twin B.
He assigned a different payout structure to each." He set a printed document on the blanket in front of me.
"Twin B carried a significantly larger policy."
I looked at the paper.
"Which twin was Twin B?" I asked, though I already felt the answer forming somewhere cold and certain in my chest.
Daniel's voice was quiet.
"The one who d*ed."
The room went completely silent except for the soft sound of my son breathing in his bassinet.
Paula put her hand over mine.
I didn't look up from the document.
Six weeks ago.
Ryan had done this six weeks ago.
While I was still pregnant.
While I was still sleeping beside him and trusting him and believing that we wanted the same things.
"He chose," I said.
"It appears so," Daniel said.
The door handle moved again.
Ryan came back in.
His face had changed.
The careful smile was gone.
In its place was something flatter, more deliberate.
He looked at the document on my blanket.
He looked at Daniel.
May you like
Then he looked at me.
"I think," he said slowly, "that this has gone far enough."
