Chapter 2 - Why Khloe Was in the Hospital
Khloe hadn’t been admitted because of Isabella.
At least that was what I believed.
Two nights earlier, she woke with severe abdominal pain.
Our obstetrician wanted her monitored because she was only twenty-nine weeks pregnant and had experienced contractions earlier in the pregnancy.
By noon the next day, things had stabilized.
I wanted to stay.
Khloe sent me home.
“You’ve been wearing the same shirt for thirty hours.”
“I have others.”
“At home.”
She smiled.
That was my wife.
Even frightened, she could make me feel ridiculous.
I left for three hours.
Isabella arrived while I was gone.
She was Khloe’s older half sister.
Same father.
Different mothers.
Their relationship had never been easy.
Isabella was polished, competitive and exhausting, but Khloe kept trying because their father, Anthony Rossi, had died five years earlier and Isabella was one of the few connections she had left to him.
When I returned that evening, Isabella was gone.
Khloe was quieter.
I asked what happened.
“Nothing.”
I believed her.
That was my first mistake.
After the assault, hospital staff documented Khloe’s condition and moved Isabella off the approved visitor list. Khloe remained under observation.
I asked hospital administration about the camera.
That produced my first surprise.
It wasn’t there for routine patient surveillance.
The room had previously been used for a high-profile patient whose security team requested temporary cameras in the entry areas.
One unit remained active while hospital security finalized removal.
Access wasn’t something they could simply hand to me because I demanded it.
There were privacy procedures.
Retention rules.
An incident report.
So I did what I should have done from the beginning.
I stopped trying to solve everything myself.
I stayed with Khloe.
When she was calm enough to talk, I asked:
“What did you mean about yesterday?”
She stared at the blanket.
“Isabella wanted me to sign something.”
“What?”
“A consent.”
“For what?”
Khloe finally looked at me.
“Dad’s embryos.”
I thought I had misheard her.
Anthony Rossi had been dead for five years.
“What embryos?”
May you like
Khloe swallowed.
“The ones Isabella says belong to her.”
