Chapter 2 - The Hospital Truth
By the time Rowan reached Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Elsie’s breathing had become so faint that he could barely hear it over the rain striking the windshield.
He did not park.
He abandoned the car in the emergency entrance lane, grabbed Elsie from the backseat, took Micah’s hand, and ran through the sliding doors.
“My daughter is burning up,” he shouted. “She hasn’t eaten. She won’t wake up.”
Everything changed at once.
A nurse rushed forward with a wheelchair. Another took Elsie from his arms and laid her on a pediatric gurney. Doctors appeared from nowhere, speaking in rapid, controlled voices that made Rowan’s blood run cold.
“Temperature is 104.8.”
“Heart rate elevated.”
“Severely dehydrated.”
“Start IV fluids now.”
“Get labs.”
Micah stood beside Rowan, clutching his father’s coat so tightly that his tiny fingers turned white.
“Dad,” he whispered, “are they going to hurt her?”
Rowan dropped to his knees in front of him.
“No, buddy. They’re helping her.”
“But she doesn’t like shots.”
“I know.”
Micah’s face crumpled.
“She’s scared of them.”
Rowan pulled him into his arms.
“I know. But she is going to be okay.”
It was a promise he had no right to make.
Not yet.
Across the room, a nurse tried to place an IV in Elsie’s arm. Her veins were thin from dehydration. On the third attempt, Elsie flinched weakly and made a tiny sound.
Rowan nearly collapsed with relief.
She was still there.
Still fighting.
Dr. Maya Chen, the pediatric emergency physician, approached Rowan with a serious expression.
“Mr. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“Your daughter is extremely dehydrated. She has a high fever and signs of malnutrition. We are stabilizing her, but I need to ask some questions.”
Rowan’s stomach tightened.
“Anything.”
“How long has she been ill?”
“I don’t know. I was told she was at a lake cabin with her mother.”
“And when did you last speak to your children?”
“Three days ago.”
Dr. Chen’s expression shifted slightly.
“Did you try calling?”
“Yes. Delaney said service would be bad. I texted Micah once yesterday, but there was no response.”
Micah looked up.
“Mom took our tablets.”
Rowan froze.
“What?”
“She said we used them too much,” Micah said. “Then she put them in her bag.”
Dr. Chen looked at the social worker who had quietly entered the room.
The woman introduced herself as Amanda Fields from Child Protective Services.
Rowan’s heart began racing again.
“I didn’t know,” he said immediately. “I swear to God, I didn’t know.”
Amanda nodded gently.
“No one is accusing you, Mr. Mercer. Right now, we are focused on keeping your children safe and finding out what happened.”
Micah tugged on Rowan’s sleeve.
“Can I tell them?”
Rowan looked at his son.
“You can tell them anything you need to.”
Micah swallowed.
“Mom left on Monday.”
The room went still.
“She told us to be quiet and watch cartoons. She said she would be back after dinner.”
“What time did she leave?” Amanda asked softly.
“Before the sun went down.”
“Did she say where she was going?”
Micah shook his head.
“She had a big suitcase. And she was wearing the red dress.”
Rowan knew the dress.
Delaney had worn it two weeks ago to a dinner with friends. She had told him she was “trying to feel like herself again.”
At the time, he had nodded sympathetically.
Now, a colder understanding began to form.
“Did anyone come to the house?” Amanda asked.
Micah looked at the floor.
“A man.”
Rowan’s breath stopped.
“What man?”
“I don’t know. He had a beard. He brought Mom flowers.”
“When?”
“Monday. Before she left.”
“Did he go inside?”
Micah nodded.
“He was in the kitchen. Mom told me to take Elsie upstairs.”
Rowan looked at Amanda.
Her face was calm, but her eyes had hardened.
“Mr. Mercer,” she said, “we need to speak with the police.”
Before he could answer, Dr. Chen returned.
Her expression was less grim than before, but not relaxed.
“Elsie is responding to fluids,” she said. “Her fever is still high, but she is awake enough to swallow small amounts of electrolyte solution.”
Rowan covered his face.
A breath escaped him.
Not relief.
Not yet.
But something close.
“Can I see her?”
“Yes,” Dr. Chen said. “But one person at a time. She is frightened and disoriented.”
Rowan walked into the treatment room on unsteady legs.
Elsie lay beneath a thin hospital blanket, connected to an IV. Her curls were damp with sweat. Her cheeks were flushed. But her eyes fluttered open when she heard his voice.
“Daddy?”
He sat beside her and took her tiny hand.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
“Mommy said you were busy.”
The words cut deeper than anything else.
Rowan swallowed.
“I was working. But I’m here now.”
“She said not to call you.”
His throat tightened.
“Why?”
Elsie’s eyes began filling with tears.
“She said you didn’t want us.”
Rowan leaned forward and pressed his forehead gently to her hand.
“No,” he whispered. “That was not true. Not even a little bit.”
Elsie looked at him.
“Are you going to take us home?”
“Yes.”
“Even if Mommy gets mad?”
“Yes.”
That answer came without hesitation.
He had spent too long trying to keep peace with Delaney.
Too long accepting excuses because he did not want a custody war.
Too long believing that paying child support, attending school events, and calling every night was enough.
It was not enough.
His children needed more than a father who showed up when invited.
They needed a father who protected them.
When Rowan stepped back into the waiting area, Detective Elena Brooks was waiting with Amanda Fields.
“We’ve been trying to locate Delaney Mercer,” Detective Brooks said. “Her phone is off. Her car is not at the house.”
“Did you find the man Micah saw?”
“Not yet.”
Then she handed Rowan a printed photograph.
It showed Delaney entering a downtown Nashville hotel at 8:17 p.m. on Monday.
She was not alone.
Beside her stood a man with a beard, a leather jacket, and one hand resting on the small of Delaney’s back.
Rowan recognized him instantly.
Grant Holloway.
His former business partner.
The man Rowan had fired six months earlier for stealing from the company.
And the man who had once told Rowan, with a smile that never reached his eyes:
“You should be careful who you trust. Especially in your own family.”
The children had been abandoned.
But not by a mother who simply wanted to escape.
Delaney had left them behind while meeting a man who had every reason to hate Rowan.
May you like
And whatever they were planning, it was bigger than an affair.
---
