It was a legal petition for the emergency transfer of guardianship and parental rights, pre-filed in the state of South Carolina."s" At the bottom of the page, the signature line for the petitioner was already filled out in a sharp, assertive script I recognized with sickening clarity: Adrian Whitmore.
My breath caught in my throat, the movement pulling brutally against my cracked ribs. The pain was sharp, but the ice water flooding my veins was sharper.
“What is this?” Claire’s voice broke the silence. She was on her feet before I could even find my words, her rumpled maid-of-honor dress rustling. She lunged toward the bed, her hand reaching for the paper, but Dr. Cole smoothly laid her palm over it, pinning it to the blanket.
“It’s an option,” Dr. Cole said, her voice dropping its professional cadence and taking on a cold, transactional rhythm. Her smirk hadn’t faded; it had simply sharpened into something predatory. “Or rather, it’s a foregone conclusion. Your husband is a very thorough man, Mrs. Whitmore. When he plans for a future, he ensures all loose ends are tied up.“
“Get out,” Claire hissed, her small frame shaking with a combination of exhaustion and lethal fury. “Get out of this room before I call security and have your medical license stripped from your back.“
Dr. Cole didn’t even look at her. Her gaze remained locked on me, assessing the pale contour of my face, the IV line in my arm, the blood-soaked evidence bag hanging on the wall behind me. “You can call whoever you like, Claire. But I suggest your sister reads the addendum first.“
With a flick of her manicured fingers, Dr. Cole turned the page over.
The Ultimate Betrayal
My eyes scanned the text, the heavy doses of painkillers making the legalese swim before they finally snapped into focus.
…In light of the mother’s catastrophic physical trauma, volatile emotional state, and impending long-term medical incapacitation resulting from the events of June 12th…
