Chapter 9 - THE PAGE REMOVED FROM MY SON’S FILE
I requested Liam’s complete medical record before sunrise.
As his mother, I was entitled to it. Still, the records department warned me that archived files might take several days.
Dr. Shah obtained the cardiology portion within an hour.
There were ninety-two pages.
Page forty-seven ended with a pediatrician noting Liam’s fainting episode after hockey practice.
Page forty-eight began six weeks later with a routine vaccination.
Something was missing.
A page number had been manually altered at the bottom.
Priya studied the scan.
“This was edited before the chart was digitized.”
“Can we see who authorized it?”
“The hospital’s legal department can.”
Grant entered the conference room without knocking.
“Mara, we need to talk privately.”
“There is nothing private about our son’s medical record.”
He shut the door.
“My mother arranged the appointment because she was worried.”
“You attended.”
“Yes.”
“You had Liam tested without telling me?”
“It was supposed to be preliminary.”
“What did the test show?”
Grant rubbed both hands over his face.
“We never got a clear answer.”
“That’s not what you said ten minutes ago.”
“I said there was an appointment.”
“You’re still lying.”
He struck the table with his palm.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From what?”
“You were already terrified of losing him. You treated every cough like an emergency.”
“I’m an emergency physician.”
“You were his mother.”
“And you were his father.”
Grant lowered his voice.
“My mother said the result was inconclusive.”
“Did you read it?”
He looked away.
I stepped toward him.
“Did you read our son’s genetic test?”
“No.”
“Did you ask for a copy?”
“No.”
“Did you tell his pediatrician?”
“No.”
Each answer came more quietly.
“Why?”
“Because Mom said it would follow him forever. Sports restrictions. Insurance problems. Doctors treating him like he was fragile.”
I stared at the man I had once trusted with my child.
“You let your mother decide whether I deserved to know my son might have a fatal heart condition.”
“She said it wasn’t fatal.”
“And you believed her?”
“I wanted to.”
That was the first completely honest thing he had said.
Priya’s phone rang.
She listened, then looked at me.
“The original laboratory still exists. Their archive shows a completed result.”
My mouth went dry.
“Positive?”
Priya nodded.
“Pathogenic SCN5A mutation.”
Grant sank into a chair.
It was the same mutation suspected in Maisie.
The same disorder triggered by fever.
May you like
Liam had not died because I worked that night.
He had died because the people caring for him knew he was in danger and chose not to tell me.
