My Ten-Year-Old’s Pregnancy Test Was Positive PART 2

Chapter Two

The Man Everyone Blamed

The hospital separated all of us.

Sophie remained with me. Daniel was taken to a consultation room at the opposite end of the pediatric wing. Eric refused to leave the hallway until a security officer warned that he would be removed.

A social worker named Marissa Cole entered Sophie’s room carrying no notebook.

She sat beside the bed and spoke gently.

“I’m going to ask Sophie some questions alone.”

Sophie tightened her arms around her stuffed rabbit.

“I want my mom.”

“I’ll be right outside,” I promised.

I hated myself for saying it. Everyone Sophie trusted had already been pushed behind a different door.

Eric was waiting when I stepped into the hallway.

“You let that man live with our daughter.”

“Daniel has never harmed her.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.”

Eric laughed without humor.

“Did you know he goes into her bedroom at night?”

My stomach dropped.

“How did you know that?”

“Sophie told me last weekend.”

He saw my expression and moved closer.

“You didn’t know, did you?”

I did know.

Three weeks earlier, I had awakened at four in the morning and found Daniel sitting on the floor outside Sophie’s open door. She had another headache and was afraid to sleep. He had brought her water, placed a cold washcloth over her forehead, and stayed where she could see him.

I had thought it was kindness.

Now Eric was turning it into evidence.

“She’s been waking up sick,” I said. “He checks on her.”

“A ten-year-old girl has pregnancy hormone in her blood, Rachel.”

“Stop saying that like it proves Daniel did something.”

“What else could it prove?”

I had no answer.

Across the hall, Daniel sat behind a glass partition while a detective questioned him. His hands rested flat on the table. He looked toward me once, but I looked away.

That single act broke something in his face.

The door to Sophie’s room opened forty minutes later. Marissa invited us back inside, but Eric was told to wait.

Sophie was curled beneath a hospital blanket.

“What did she say?” I asked.

Marissa’s expression remained neutral.

“Sophie has consistently stated that no one has touched or frightened her. She explained why Daniel sometimes checks on her at night.”

“Then he can come back?”

“Not yet. The medical team still needs to determine why her test is positive.”

Eric heard through the open door.

“Children protect people they’re afraid of.”

Sophie sat up.

“I’m not afraid of Daniel!”

Eric stepped inside before security could stop him.

“I’m trying to protect you.”

“You’re making everything worse!”

He froze.

Sophie pointed toward the hallway.

“Daniel believed me. You didn’t even ask.”

Eric’s face hardened, but I saw hurt beneath the anger.

Dr. Ortiz returned before he could answer.

“The ultrasound department is preparing a room,” she said. “Sophie needs a full bladder for the scan, so we’re giving her fluids.”

Eric turned toward her.

“How far along is she?”

“We don’t know that she is pregnant.”

“You said the blood test was positive.”

“I said it detected hCG. That is an important distinction.”

I clung to those words.

“What does that mean?”

“It means the hormone is present. It does not yet tell us why.”

Daniel was released from the consultation room but instructed to remain outside the pediatric unit. He stopped beside the exit.

“Rachel, I need you to look at me.”

I did.

“I would die before I hurt her.”

Eric muttered something under his breath.

Daniel ignored him.

“Tell Sophie I’m not leaving the hospital.”

A nurse escorted him through the double doors.

As they closed, Sophie began crying quietly.

Dr. Ortiz examined the new laboratory report. Her brow tightened.

“Did they make another mistake?” I asked.

“No. They tested a second portion of blood.”

She turned the paper toward me, although the numbers meant nothing.

“The result is not borderline. Sophie’s hCG is significantly elevated.”

Eric stared through the doors Daniel had disappeared behind.

“So there is a baby.”

Dr. Ortiz folded the report.

“We won’t know until we look.”

A transport aide arrived with a wheelchair.

Sophie reached for my hand.

As I helped her into the chair, Eric asked the question none of us wanted answered.

“And if the ultrasound shows nothing?”

Dr. Ortiz looked directly at him.

“Then we have a different emergency.”