Chapter 200: Chapter 200 Where Is My Baby Buried?
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Across town, Nancy grabbed the soup container and headed for the hospital. She needed answers.
When she walked into the room, Carol’s face lit up. "Nancy, honey, you came."
Her mom looked relieved. Like she’d been afraid Nancy would disappear on them.
Robert was sitting up in bed, looking way better than he had last night. His color was back. "Don’t just stand there, sweetheart. Come in."
Nancy opened her mouth to ask the question that had been eating her alive—
The door swung open.
"Mom, Dad, Nancy! I’m back." Frank walked in like he owned the place.
"Frank!" Carol practically squealed. "Oh my god, look at you."
Robert grinned at his son. "I thought you said you were stuck for another week?"
Frank gave a small smile. "Dad, you got into a car accident. Nothing else mattered."
His eyes landed on Nancy. He walked over and messed up her hair the way he used to when they were kids. "What’s up with you? You look at me like I’m a stranger."
"Ever since you came back from Boston, you’ve been different. Distant."
Nancy forced a smile. "Frank, that’s not true."
She turned to her parents. "The soup’s right there. Drink it while it’s hot. I have stuff to take care of at work."
She needed to get out. Fast.
Frank’s eyes narrowed. "Leaving already? I’ll walk you down."
The elevator ride was awkward. Frank could tell she was avoiding him. But there were too many people around to say anything real.
When they finally stepped outside the hospital, Frank grabbed her arm. "Nancy, what the hell is going on? You’re acting weird."
Nancy hesitated. Frank knew about the baby. He was there.
She took a breath. "Frank, where is my son? You know, don’t you?"
Frank’s face went white. He looked like someone had punched him in the gut. "Nancy, who told you that?"
Nancy knew her brother. When he lied, the corner of his eye twitched.
"Frank, I’m remembering things. The doctor who delivered my baby told me I had a son. You guys took me away after."
"I also know Mom and Dad aren’t my real parents."
Frank’s jaw locked. His hands balled into fists. He was trying to stay calm, but she could see the panic in his eyes.
"You remember everything?" His voice was careful. Measured.
Nancy shook her head. "Just pieces. But Frank, I need to see my baby. You can’t keep me from my own son."
She still believed her child was alive. Somewhere out there. Waiting.
Frank let out a heavy sigh. "Nancy, the baby... didn’t make it."
"What?" Her eyes went wide. She shook her head like she could shake the words out of her ears. "No. That’s not possible. The doctor said my baby was perfectly healthy."
Frank chose his words carefully. He was walking on eggshells and he knew it.
"Nancy, the day before you went into labor, your parents got into a car accident. The shock sent you into early labor. You were a week early. After you gave birth, you were completely out of it. With your parents gone, you were a mess emotionally."
"That deadbeat boyfriend of yours had no idea you were pregnant. He never showed up. Not once. We had no choice but to leave the baby with a sitter. But then one day, the baby got a fever. A bad one."
"You couldn’t handle losing both the baby and your parents. You tried to bash your head against a wall. We got you to the ER just in time. After that, your memory was gone."
"Mom and Dad were terrified you’d try again. So they moved you to Boston. I stayed behind to handle the funerals. For your parents. For the baby."
Nancy’s legs buckled. Frank caught her arm just before she hit the pavement.
"I’m sorry. I know this is a lot. But it happened a long time ago. Dad, Mom, and I just want you to move on. Start fresh."
"Nancy, you trust me, don’t you?"
Nancy stayed quiet. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him. It was that something felt off. The story had holes. Big ones.
She’d been pregnant. Okay. So where was this boyfriend?
Why would she have gotten pregnant out of wedlock? Nancy didn’t believe her pre-amnesia self had been some lovesick fool. Even without her memories, would her whole personality have flipped that much?
A missing boyfriend. A baby that showed up out of nowhere and then died. A car accident. Her parents just happened to crash the day before she gave birth.
Every piece felt wrong. Like a puzzle someone had forced together with duct tape.
But when Nancy had visited the cemetery, the dates on the headstones matched. Seven years ago. The same day she’d given birth.
She looked up at Frank. Her eyes were sharp now. Probing.
"Frank, where is my baby buried? I want to see him."
Frank pressed his lips together. "The baby was so small. We didn’t do a full burial. We had him cremated and spread the ashes at a memorial garden."
"Which one? I need to go there."
Faced with his sister’s stubbornness, Frank gave her the name of the garden. "Nancy, let me come with you."
"No."
Nancy refused. "Frank, I want to go alone."
Even after Nancy’s car disappeared around the corner, Frank stood frozen in the parking lot. He didn’t know if hiding the truth was right or wrong. But they’d done it for her sake.
He walked back to the hospital room.
Carol frowned. "What took you so long?"
Frank sighed. "Mom, Nancy’s starting to remember things."
"She just asked me about the baby."
"What?" Carol looked stunned.
Robert asked carefully, "What did you tell her? Did you tell her the truth?"
"No."
After what happened back then, Frank had been the one to suggest they couldn’t keep the child with Nancy. He’d pushed hard to give the baby up for adoption. Three months later, he’d gotten a call from the agency. The child had died of complications from an illness.
Frank had carried that guilt for seven years. He’d tried to make it up to Nancy however he could. Now his worst fear was coming true.
"Frank, some things can’t be said. You did it for her own good. Keeping that child around would only have made things worse. When we gave him up, no one expected he wouldn’t survive."
"When Nancy came back this time, I was already nervous. Then after she and Ben broke up, Carol and I got even more worried. We were terrified that once she was single again, she’d start remembering."
"Didn’t think we’d end up here anyway."
"But Nancy has a boyfriend now. And they seem serious. Whatever happened in the past shouldn’t matter anymore."
Frank looked surprised. "Nancy’s seeing someone?"
"Dad, after all this time, has there been any word from that deadbeat who got her pregnant?"
Robert shook his head. "Who knows? Doesn’t matter now. The kid’s gone. No point digging up the past."
Frank was more cautious than his father. "Mom, what’s the boyfriend’s name?"
Carol hesitated. "Yardley Wolfe."
