\u201cYou saw her after she was born?\u201d Cody gave a slow nod.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore they took you away.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt all the blood drain completely from my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat on earth are you talking about?\u201d He climbed off the edge of his bed and hurried over to his desk. From underneath a towering stack of school papers, he pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper.<\/p>\n
He handed it directly to me. It was a rough sketch. A quiet hospital hallway.<\/p>\n
Two elevators side by side. A man standing right beside them. And cradled in his arms was a tiny baby wrapped snugly in a white blanket.<\/p>\n
Just a few feet away from the man stood another figure dressed in dark clothing. I stared down at the drawing, dumbfounded. \u201cWho is this person?\u201d \u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
My fingers began to tremble visibly. \u201cAnd who is this other person?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d \u201cAre you completely sure that was your father?\u201d \u201cYes, I am.\u201d \u201cCody, your father was supposed to be right there with me.\u201d \u201cNot the entire time.\u201d Those words landed heavily, like a heavy stone dropping into deep water. \u201cWhat do you mean by that?\u201d He lowered his voice to a whisper. \u201cAfter the doctors wheeled you away, Dad told me to stay put with Grandma. But I couldn\u2019t locate her anywhere.\u201d He swallowed hard. \u201cSo I decided to go look for him myself.\u201d I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. \u201cWhere did you end up finding him?\u201d \u201cDownstairs on another level.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich floor was it?\u201d \u201cI have no idea. There were so many elevators around.\u201d \u201cAnd what about the baby?\u201d Cody looked straight up at me. \u201cShe was crying.\u201d My stomach twisted into a painful knot. \u201cWhat did your father do then?\u201d \u201cHe just kept saying, \u2018It\u2019s okay. It\u2019s okay. Your mommy will come for you.\u2019\u201d I stopped breathing altogether. \u201cYour mommy?\u201d Cody nodded again. \u201cThen that woman came over and took the baby away.\u201d \u201cWhat woman?\u201d \u201cThe exact same one Dad handed the envelope to.\u201d I stared back down at the drawing. My mind began racing frantically. There simply had to be a logical explanation for all of this.<\/p>\n
There just had to be. Nolan had never given me any reason whatsoever to doubt his loyalty. He had held my hand tightly throughout the grueling labor. He had stayed right by my side when everything went disastrously wrong. He had even slept uncomfortably in a chair right beside my hospital bed. He had wept openly when the doctor finally told us our little Maisie was gone. Yet now, a terrifying new thought forced its way into my mind. If Cody had truly seen Nolan with a crying infant, why hadn\u2019t Nolan ever mentioned it to me? I stood up abruptly. \u201cWhere is Dad right now?\u201d Cody pointed a small finger toward the back kitchen. \u201cHe\u2019s outside.\u201d My heart began hammering against my ribs. I walked quickly down the quiet hallway. Nolan was standing near the back door, staring out blankly into the yard. He turned around the moment he heard my footsteps.<\/p>\n
His expression changed instantly. \u201cJenna?\u201d I held up Cody\u2019s drawing in front of him. \u201cWhat is the meaning of this?\u201d He stared at the paper. For several long seconds, he offered no answer at all. Then his eyes shifted to Cody standing behind me. \u201cWhere did you manage to get that?\u201d Cody instinctively stepped further behind my shirt. \u201cI saw you do it.\u201d Nolan\u2019s face turned completely pale. \u201cCody\u2014\u201d \u201cYou had a baby.\u201d \u201cThat\u2019s enough.\u201d The sudden sharpness in Nolan\u2019s voice startled me. Cody gripped my shirt tighter.<\/p>\n
I stepped firmly between the two of them. \u201cDon\u2019t you dare talk to him like that.\u201d Nolan looked at me with desperate eyes. \u201cJenna, please, you don\u2019t understand.\u201d \u201cThen you had better explain it right now.\u201d Dead silence hung in the air. \u201cExplain the baby, Nolan.\u201d His eyes slowly filled with tears. \u201cThere was another baby.\u201d My knees nearly buckled beneath me. \u201cWhat did you just say?\u201d \u201cThere was another infant in that hospital.\u201d \u201cAre you talking about Maisie?\u201d He shook his head slowly. \u201cI don\u2019t actually know.\u201d I stared at him in utter disbelief.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t know?\u201d \u201cI was just trying to locate someone.\u201d \u201cWho were you looking for?\u201d He looked down toward the floorboards. \u201cA woman whose name is Rebecca.\u201d The name meant absolutely nothing to me. \u201cWho on earth is Rebecca?\u201d Nolan rubbed his face with both hands. \u201cI can\u2019t possibly explain all of this right here.\u201d \u201cThen we will explain it somewhere else.\u201d He glanced at Cody. \u201cGo to your room, buddy.\u201d \u201cNo.\u201d \u201cCody, please\u2014\u201d \u201cHe stays right here with me.\u201d Nolan closed his eyes tightly.<\/p>\n
Then he whispered the words that changed everything: \u201cMaisie wasn\u2019t ever supposed to die.\u201d The entire room went dead silent. \u201cWhat did you just say to me?\u201d He looked straight into my eyes. \u201cThe doctors made a catastrophic mistake.\u201d My entire body went instantly cold. \u201cWhat kind of mistake?\u201d \u201cThey told me I wasn\u2019t allowed to tell you.\u201d \u201cWho on earth told you that?\u201d He didn\u2019t reply immediately. \u201cWho was it, Nolan?\u201d \u201cThe hospital administration.\u201d I took a hesitant step backward. \u201cNo, that\u2019s impossible.\u201d \u201cI tried everything to find out what really happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me flat out that she died.\u201d \u201cThat was what they instructed me to believe.\u201d \u201cYou told me our daughter was dead in the morgue.\u201d His eyes brimmed over with fresh tears. \u201cI truly thought she was.\u201d \u201cYou thought?\u201d He nodded miserably. \u201cRight after the surgery, they pulled me aside and said Maisie had no heartbeat left.\u201d My voice broke completely. \u201cAnd you just sat there and believed them?\u201d \u201cI had no reason whatsoever to doubt medical staff.\u201d \u201cThen why in the world were you carrying another baby?\u201d Nolan looked back at Cody. \u201cBecause someone directly asked me to hold her.\u201d \u201cWho asked you?\u201d He hesitated briefly.<\/p>\n
\u201cA nurse.\u201d \u201cWhat nurse?\u201d \u201cI honestly don\u2019t know her name.\u201d I let out a bitter, humorless laugh. \u201cYou expect me to believe you don\u2019t know her name?\u201d \u201cShe simply tracked me down in the hallway.\u201d \u201cAnd casually handed you a baby?\u201d \u201cNo, it wasn\u2019t like that.\u201d \u201cThen what actually happened?\u201d Nolan slumped down onto a chair. His hands were shaking visibly. \u201cShe told me there had been a terrible mix-up with the paperwork.\u201d \u201cWhat paperwork could possibly matter?\u201d \u201cThe baby\u2019s temporary identification bracelet.\u201d My heart began pounding wildly against my chest. \u201cWhat is that supposed to mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nolan looked directly into my eyes. \u201cThey claimed there had been another emergency delivery happening simultaneously that night.\u201d I couldn\u2019t manage to speak. \u201cAnother baby had been born alive and well.\u201d I whispered, \u201cWhose baby was it?\u201d \u201cI genuinely don\u2019t know.\u201d \u201cThen why did you end up holding her?\u201d \u201cShe insisted the infant needed to be transferred elsewhere.\u201d \u201cTransferred to where?\u201d \u201cShe wouldn\u2019t give me any details.\u201d \u201cAnd what about that envelope?\u201d Nolan\u2019s expression shifted defensively. \u201cWhat did Cody tell you about it?\u201d \u201cHe witnessed you giving someone money.\u201d Nolan shook his head vigorously. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my own money at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him hard. \u201cWhose money was it, then?\u201d \u201cThe hospital administrator\u2019s own hands.\u201d My skin prickled with unease. \u201cWhat are you talking about?\u201d \u201cHe handed me the envelope directly.\u201d \u201cFor what purpose?\u201d \u201cTo pay someone off.\u201d \u201cTo pay them for what?\u201d Nolan\u2019s voice dropped to a murmur. \u201cTo keep absolute silence.\u201d I felt completely dizzy. \u201cSilence about what?\u201d He looked at me with deep sorrow. \u201cSilence about Maisie.\u201d Before I could find my voice to reply, a sudden knock sounded at the front door.<\/p>\n
Three slow, deliberate knocks. Nolan froze instantly. Cody whispered fearfully: \u201cThat\u2019s her out there.\u201d I turned to look at him. \u201cWho?\u201d \u201cThat woman from the hospital.\u201d The knocking came again, louder this time. Three distinct times. Nolan stood up abruptly. \u201cJenna, do not open that front door.\u201d \u201cWhy shouldn\u2019t I?\u201d \u201cBecause if it\u2019s who I\u2019m afraid it is\u2026\u201d He left the sentence unfinished. The doorknob began to turn slowly. And then a woman\u2019s familiar voice called out from the other side.<\/p>\n
\u201cJenna?\u201d I knew that voice instantly. I had heard it before. Back at the hospital. On the very night Maisie was born. My hand flew up to cover my mouth. Because in that exact second, I remembered something I had spent two long weeks trying desperately to forget. A nurse leaning anxiously over my hospital bed. A deeply frightened expression on her face. And one final sentence whispered just before everything faded to black: \u201cYour baby is still alive.\u201d I looked over at Nolan. He looked utterly terrified. Then the woman outside spoke once more. \u201cJenna, you need to open this door and let me in.\u201d Her voice broke with emotion.<\/p>\n
Part 3 \u2014 The Truth About Maisie I couldn\u2019t manage to move an inch. Her words seemed to hang heavily in the narrow hallway. Your daughter is alive. Cody\u2019s small fingers tightened protectively around mine. Nolan stood completely rigid. Then he whispered desperately: \u201cDon\u2019t open that door.\u201d I looked at him with hard eyes. \u201cYou knew about this.\u201d \u201cNo, not entirely.\u201d \u201cYou knew she might still be out there alive.\u201d \u201cI strongly suspected it.\u201d \u201cThat isn\u2019t the same thing as knowing.\u201d \u201cI just didn\u2019t know what to believe anymore.\u201d I took a determined step toward the door.<\/p>\n
Nolan reached out and grabbed my wrist. \u201cJenna, please stop.\u201d I pulled my arm away firmly. \u201cIf there is even a tiny one-percent chance that our baby girl is alive, I am opening this door right now.\u201d I turned the lock and pulled it open. The woman standing on the porch looked completely exhausted. She was perhaps in her fifties, wearing a plain coat, her hair pulled back loosely, and her eyes red and swollen from crying. I recognized her face right away. She was indeed the nurse from the maternity ward. \u201cMarianne?\u201d She nodded slowly. \u201cMay I please come inside?\u201d I stepped aside to give her room. She walked through the threshold. The moment her eyes landed on Cody, she brought a hand up to cover her mouth. \u201cOh, my dear God.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cody stared right back at her. \u201cDo you remember me?\u201d \u201cYes, I do.\u201d She knelt down in front of him. \u201cYou really shouldn\u2019t have seen what you saw that night.\u201d \u201cBut I did see it.\u201d \u201cI know you did.\u201d She stood up and looked directly at me. \u201cI\u2019ve finally found the courage to tell you the unvarnished truth.\u201d My voice shook with adrenaline. \u201cStart talking right now.\u201d Marianne glanced at Nolan. He gave a solemn nod. She drew a deep breath. \u201cThe night your daughter was born, we had two major emergency deliveries happening at once.\u201d I frowned, trying to process it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t completely understand.\u201d \u201cYou were rushed into emergency surgery due to severe hemorrhaging. At almost that exact minute, another expectant mother was wheeled into the maternity ward.\u201d \u201cWho was she?\u201d \u201cA young woman named Rebecca.\u201d My heart stopped beating for a second. \u201cThe exact woman Nolan mentioned earlier?\u201d \u201cYes, that\u2019s her.\u201d \u201cWhat happened to her?\u201d \u201cShe delivered a healthy baby girl.\u201d I stared at her in shock. \u201cAnd what about Maisie?\u201d Marianne\u2019s eyes welled up with fresh tears. \u201cThat is precisely where everything went terribly wrong.\u201d She explained that amid the chaos in the operating theater, several patients had been temporarily shifted between rooms. A panicked nurse had accidentally attached the wrong temporary identification label to one of the newborns. The grave mistake was noticed almost immediately.<\/p>\n
However, by then, a massive crisis had already unfolded. I had lost a dangerous amount of blood on the table. My vital signs deteriorated rapidly. The entire medical team had to focus exclusively on keeping me alive. Concurrently, Rebecca had suffered sudden postpartum complications of her own. \u201cShe was completely unconscious as well,\u201d Marianne stated. \u201cSo both mothers were knocked out?\u201d \u201cYes, they were.\u201d \u201cAnd what about the infants?\u201d \u201cBoth babies survived the delivery.\u201d My knees grew weak beneath me. I reached out and grabbed the back of a nearby chair for support. \u201cThen why on earth did you people tell us that Maisie had died?\u201d Marianne lowered her gaze to the floor. \u201cBecause the hospital administration made a catastrophic cover-up mistake.\u201d Nolan stepped forward anxiously.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the attending doctor?\u201d Marianne looked straight at him. \u201cHe was well aware there was a discrepancy in the records.\u201d \u201cWhat kind of discrepancy?\u201d \u201cThe paper charts and the wristbands simply didn\u2019t match up.\u201d She explained that although the identification bracelets had been swapped back in the panic, the initial electronic logs still contained conflicting data. Then someone high up made an executive decision. A truly terrible one. Instead of immediately alerting both grieving families that an administrative ID error had occurred, the hospital administrator ordered a quiet internal review first to protect themselves. \u201cThey were deathly afraid of the legal fallout,\u201d Marianne confessed. \u201cFallout?\u201d \u201cMassive lawsuits, public scandal, losing their medical licenses, and destroying the hospital\u2019s pristine reputation.\u201d I felt physically sick to my stomach. \u201cSo they purposely lied to us?\u201d \u201cThey intentionally concealed the mistake.\u201d \u201cWhere was Maisie kept during all of this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Marianne\u2019s eyes met mine with deep regret. \u201cShe was quietly transferred over to an entirely different unit.\u201d \u201cWhy would they do that?\u201d \u201cBecause everyone assumed she belonged legally to Rebecca\u2019s file.\u201d I covered my mouth in horror. \u201cNo way.\u201d \u201cYes, it\u2019s true.\u201d \u201cAnd what about Rebecca?\u201d \u201cShe was falsely told her baby had passed away in the nursery.\u201d The room fell into an oppressive silence. I thought about another mother waking up somewhere alone in that very same building. A mother mourning a child who was actually breathing and well. While I had been mourning a child who was also alive somewhere down the hall. Two innocent mothers. Two healthy babies. One monstrous, unforgivable mistake.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened after those initial days?\u201d I asked softly. Marianne looked back at Nolan. \u201cHe eventually discovered the discrepancy.\u201d I whipped my head around to face him. \u201cYou knew about this?\u201d \u201cI found out roughly two days after your surgery.\u201d My voice broke with betrayal. \u201cAnd you didn\u2019t even bother to tell me?\u201d \u201cI tried my hardest.\u201d \u201cYou didn\u2019t try hard enough!\u201d \u201cI went down to that administrative office every single day.\u201d \u201cThen why keep it from me?\u201d \u201cBecause they threatened that if I made any noise about it, they would legally declare you unstable and drug-addled from the post-op medication.\u201d I stared at him in utter disbelief. \u201cThey actually threatened you?\u201d \u201cYes, they did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you actually believed their threats?\u201d \u201cI was out of my mind with terror.\u201d He started crying openly. \u201cI had just been warned that I might lose you permanently as well.\u201d Part of me wanted to rage at him. In truth, I was furious. Yet buried underneath that burning anger was a much stronger emotion. Hope. A terrifying, impossible, burning hope. \u201cWhere is Maisie right now?\u201d Marianne closed her eyes tightly. \u201cThat is the exact part I couldn\u2019t personally track down.\u201d My heart plummeted instantly. \u201cWhat do you mean by that?\u201d \u201cThe hospital\u2019s internal database records had already been altered by then.\u201d Nolan nodded in agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThough I managed to find one vital name.\u201d \u201cRebecca?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cAnd did you get a location?\u201d He pulled a folded piece of paper out from his jacket pocket. I snatched it and opened it up. There was a clear street address written on it. My hands shook violently. \u201cIs our daughter currently at this house?\u201d \u201cWe honestly don\u2019t know for certain,\u201d Marianne admitted. \u201cThen how can you be so sure my daughter is still alive?\u201d Marianne looked over at Cody. Cody looked puzzled. \u201cMe?\u201d \u201cYou saw what happened in that hallway.\u201d \u201cBut I only caught a glimpse of a baby.\u201d \u201cYou saw the exact right baby.\u201d I stared at her, desperate for clarity. \u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d \u201cThe infant you witnessed being carried was wrapped in a distinct white blanket.\u201d Cody nodded vigorously. \u201cAnd you noted she was crying.\u201d \u201cYes, she was.\u201d Marianne\u2019s voice trembled with emotion. \u201cThat crying baby was Maisie.\u201d I felt as though the rotation of the entire world had abruptly stopped. \u201cWhy are you so certain of that?\u201d \u201cBecause I personally marked her blanket with a keepsake.\u201d She reached down into her bag. From inside, she pulled out a small, worn photograph. It pictured a newborn infant.<\/p>\n
Incredibly tiny. With a red face. Wrapped snug in a white blanket. Pinned securely to the fabric was a small yellow ribbon. I recognized it instantly. It had been tied around her hospital blanket on the day I first held her. My knees finally gave out completely. Nolan caught me before I hit the floor. I pressed the small photograph tightly against my chest. \u201cShe survived.\u201d \u201cYes, she did.\u201d \u201cAll this agonizing time?\u201d \u201cYes.\u201d I broke down into heavy sobs. Not the silent, hollow tears I had wept into my pillow every night. Not the numb grief that had hollowed me out.<\/p>\n
This was entirely different. It was raw pain mixed with sudden, blinding hope. Hope so massive that it physically ached. \u201cWhere is she living now?\u201d Marianne hesitated for a moment. \u201cThat is what we drove out here to uncover.\u201d We piled into the car and drove out to the address that very night. Cody stayed behind safely with Grandma. The small house sat quietly at the end of a dimly lit suburban street. Nolan parked the car across the road. For several minutes, none of us made a move. Finally, I broke the silence: \u201cLet\u2019s go.\u201d He looked at me anxiously. \u201cAre you completely sure?\u201d \u201cNo, I am not.\u201d<\/p>\n
I swung my car door open. \u201cBut I\u2019m walking up there anyway.\u201d We walked side by side to the front porch. Nolan knocked firmly on the wood. No immediate answer came. He knocked a second time. A curtain twitched in the front window. Then the wooden door cracked open slightly. A young woman stood timidly behind the gap. She looked young. Deeply tired. Her face was streaked with fresh tears. \u201cAre you Rebecca?\u201d She froze in place. Then her eyes landed directly on me. Her expression crumpled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re Jenna, aren\u2019t you?\u201d My breath hitched in my throat. \u201cHow do you even know who I am?\u201d She started crying softly. \u201cBecause I\u2019ve been searching for you for weeks.\u201d I could barely manage to draw breath. \u201cWhere is my daughter?\u201d Rebecca glanced nervously over her shoulder. Then she whispered: \u201cShe is right in here.\u201d I heard a tiny, familiar cry echo from somewhere inside the house. My entire body went numb with shock. Rebecca stepped aside to let us pass. We walked inside. And there, resting in a small bassinet by the front window, was a baby. She was fast asleep.<\/p>\n
A gray plush rabbit rested right beside her head. My gray plush rabbit. The exact one Cody had lovingly chosen out for Maisie before she was ever born. I walked slowly toward the crib. My hands were shaking so violently I could barely stretch my arms out. The baby fluttered her eyelids open. Dark eyes. Bright, intelligent eyes. Eyes that looked hauntingly, beautifully familiar. I whispered softly: \u201cMaisie?\u201d The baby twitched and moved her tiny hand. I gently brushed her fingers. She instantly wrapped her miniature fist around mine. And something deep inside my soul finally broke open. I collapsed beside the bassinet, weeping freely.<\/p>\n
Nolan dropped down to his knees right beside me. Rebecca stood quietly watching us from behind. For a long stretch of time, nobody uttered a word. Then Rebecca whispered into the quiet room: \u201cThey told me my precious baby had passed away.\u201d I looked up at her through my tears. \u201cThey told me the exact same devastating lie.\u201d She nodded solemnly. \u201cI always knew something felt wrong in my gut.\u201d \u201cSo did I.\u201d \u201cThey ripped her away from me.\u201d \u201cThey ripped her away from me too.\u201d We exchanged a long look. Two mothers who had spent weeks in absolute mourning. Two weeks believing their newborns were gone forever. When the raw truth was that neither of us had ever been given the actual facts.<\/p>\n
Rebecca explained that a compassionate nurse had secretly uncovered the administrative mix-up and relocated Maisie before hospital higher-ups could permanently separate her from both families. However, the hospital administration had desperately tried to bury the trail. The bulky envelope Nolan had been forced to carry hadn’t been payment for an illegal adoption. It had been hush money the administrator offered to Rebecca\u2019s brother after threatening him into absolute silence. Nolan had taken that envelope solely because he was trying to secure the paperwork evidence. The baby Cody had spotted wasn’t being trafficked or sold off. She was being safely relocated. Protected from the predators running the hospital. And the person Cody thought was stealing her away was actually the one person trying to keep her safe. Marianne had risked her entire professional career to expose the fraud. Rebecca had hidden Maisie away because she lived in terror that the hospital would return to take her again. And Nolan had spent two agonizing weeks desperately hunting down proof before he dared tell me anything. None of this completely erased the trauma we endured. None of it undid the nightmares we suffered through. But our daughter was alive and breathing. That was the only thing that ultimately mattered.<\/p>\n
Months later, the full medical investigation finally went public. The hospital corporate board formally admitted that severe identification errors had occurred and that official records had been fraudulently altered. There were endless public hearings. Costly civil lawsuits. Federal investigations. People lost their prestigious medical licenses and jobs. Yet none of that remained the focal point of our daily lives. Because every single morning, I woke up to the joyful sound of a baby crying out. And every single morning, I walked down the hall into the pale yellow nursery. The gray rabbit still sat right beside Maisie\u2019s crib. Cody strictly refused to let anyone move it an inch. One peaceful evening, I found him sitting quietly next to his baby sister. He was reading her a favorite storybook. \u201cYou were right all along, you know,\u201d I told him softly. He looked up from the pages. \u201cAbout what, Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout Maisie not truly being gone.\u201d He gave a small, knowing smile. \u201cI told you so from the start.\u201d I sat down on the rug beside him. \u201cYou actually saved her in a way.\u201d He shook his head firmly. \u201cNo, Mom, I didn\u2019t.\u201d He looked lovingly at his little sister. \u201cShe\u2019s the one who saved all of us.\u201d I smiled through a fresh wave of tears. And for the first time since the terrifying night I nearly died giving birth, I permitted myself to believe our family had been granted something I never thought possible. Not a flawless, easy fairy-tale ending. We would always carry the lingering scars of the fear. The suffocating grief. The agonizing uncertainty. The other mother who had suffered just as much.<\/p>\n
The unforgivable mistakes that should never have happened. Yet sometimes, even after the darkest night of your entire life, the morning sun still manages to rise. And sometimes the miracle you stopped believing in is sleeping peacefully in the very next room. Three weeks later, Cody quietly added one final item to the glass coin jar sitting on his dresser. It was the crumpled $20 bill he had stubbornly been saving up to \u201cbring Maisie back home.\u201d I asked him why he wasn’t hoarding the cash anymore. He smiled brightly. \u201cI don\u2019t really need it anymore.\u201d \u201cWhy is that?\u201d He glanced toward the bustling nursery. \u201cBecause she\u2019s already right where she belongs.\u201d And that very night, for the first time in weeks, I closed my eyes without feeling any dread about what tomorrow might bring. From down the hall came the softest, sweetest sound. A baby giggling happily. And right beside her crib sat a gray plush rabbit, resting exactly where Cody had always known it belonged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cYou saw her after she was born?\u201d Cody gave a slow nod. \u201cBefore they took you away.\u201d I felt all the blood drain completely from my face. \u201cWhat on earth are you talking about?\u201d He climbed off the edge of his bed and hurried over to his desk. From underneath a towering stack of school…<\/p>\n