Chapter 6 - The Woman in the ChartThe next morning, Allison returned to St. Vincent.
Not to see Derek.
To meet the hospital’s patient-relations director.
Keira was waiting outside the administrative office.
The nurse looked miserable.
“I’m so sorry.”
Allison stopped.
“For what?”
“For what I said yesterday.”
“You told me the truth.”
“I thought she was his wife.”
“I know.”
Keira hesitated.
“That’s what I was told.”
Allison studied her.
“By Derek?”
Keira’s face tightened.
“I can’t discuss his medical record.”
“I’m not asking you to violate privacy.”
Keira nodded carefully.
Allison said, “But you told me you knew Camille because she came here often.”
Keira glanced toward the office door.
“I can tell you what I personally remember.”
“That’s enough.”
Keira lowered her voice.
“I’ve seen her with him during two previous visits.”
“All hospitalizations?”
“One emergency evaluation. One outpatient cardiology procedure.”
Allison remembered both.
Derek had told her one occurred while she was in Chicago.
The second, he claimed, was a quick follow-up he didn’t want her leaving work for.
“Camille was here?”
“Yes.”
“As his wife?”
Keira swallowed.
“That was my understanding.”
The patient-relations director entered then and invited Allison inside.
Her name was Sandra Lee.
She explained the hospital could not disclose Derek’s confidential medical information without authorization.
Allison understood.
But Sandra could discuss the hospital’s identity-verification practices generally and investigate whether staff had been misled.
“Do you routinely verify marriages?” Allison asked.
“No. Hospitals generally rely on information provided by the patient unless a legal status affects a specific decision.”
“So a patient can tell you any visitor is a spouse?”
“A patient can identify people according to their preferences. Marriage itself is not required for someone to visit.”
Allison nodded.
That was important.
The hospital had not created the lie.
Derek had.
“Then this wasn’t about access,” Allison said.
Sandra looked at her.
“Possibly not.”
Derek could have simply said Camille was his sister-in-law, friend, or chosen support person.
He had called her his wife because he wanted to.
That hurt differently.
When Allison left the meeting, Keira approached.
“There’s one thing.”
Allison waited.
Keira looked uncomfortable.
“The first time I saw Camille with him, months ago, I called her Ms. Grant.”
“What happened?”
“Mr. Hale corrected me.”
Allison’s chest tightened.
“What did he say?”
Keira looked directly at her.
“He said, ‘Mrs. Hale.’”
Allison said nothing.
“He laughed,” Keira added. “I thought maybe she hadn’t changed her name legally.”
The elevator doors opened behind Allison.
She stepped inside.
Keira said, “I’m sorry.”
Allison looked back.
“You didn’t betray me.”
The doors closed.
Outside the hospital, Allison found Derek waiting near the curb.
He had been discharged.
He looked tired and furious.
“You’re interviewing nurses now?”
“I attended a patient-relations meeting.”
“This is humiliating.”
“For you?”
“For everyone.”
Allison stared at him.
“You introduced my sister as your wife.”
He looked away.
“That was easier.”
“Easier than saying sister-in-law?”
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
Derek stepped closer.
“I was sick. Camille was available.”
“So you renamed her.”
“You’re turning wording into a crime.”
“No. The money may be the crime.”
His expression darkened.
“You’ve locked me out of the company.”
“Yes.”
“I built half the financial systems you depend on.”
“And apparently a private one for stealing.”
His jaw flexed.
“You think Camille told you everything?”
Allison felt a warning move through her.
“What does that mean?”
Derek smiled without warmth.
“You always thought you were protecting her.”
He walked past Allison toward a waiting rideshare.
Then stopped.
“Ask your sister what she gave me from your father’s office.”
Allison stared.
Derek opened the car door.
“She didn’t just take money.”
He got inside.
By the time Allison called Camille, her sister’s phone was off.
May you like
At 11:07 a.m., Allison received an email from Owen.
We found a missing archive box in the Grant records inventory. Last documented access: Camille Grant, six weeks after your father died.
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