Chapter 280: Transfer

Chapter 280: Transfer

"I'll look into it." David's voice carried a quiet ache. "Send me your mother's medical records from back then — the more detailed, the better. I'll reach out to Imogen. She has better connections in this area than I do."

Lily wanted to say thank you, but the words felt too small, too light to carry anything she actually meant.

Then her phone buzzed.

A message from Olivia. Just one line: "I'm outside your door. Doesn't matter if you come home tonight or not, I'm waiting. I put food in the fridge for you. I don't know what's wrong with me lately, my stomach's been off — get back here and eat with me!!"

Lily stared at the words, and her eyes went red without warning.

Not from sadness. It was more like the feeling of standing too long at the edge of a cliff, and suddenly someone reaches out from behind and pulls you back.

She took a slow breath and opened Instagram. On the trending list, "Sunrise Hospital Newborn Death" had climbed to number seven. The comments were exploding — people furious, people skeptical, people saying "wait for the official statement," people saying "I gave birth at Sunrise Hospital last year and something always felt off about that place."

Lily scrolled down one post at a time, and then she stopped.

A post with over ten thousand shares.

It was from Zola — not through any media outlet. She'd posted it herself.

The post wasn't long. Lily read it twice, start to finish.

The first time, she read for the content.

The second time, she read for the last line: "We have applied for national-level forensic intervention. We do not need Sunrise Hospital to provide any internal findings. We trust only the truth."

The tears she'd been holding back finally slipped free, silent.

She closed the app, opened her contacts, and found Victoria's number.

Something this big — Victoria had to know about it already. And if she could help, finding the truth might be a little less impossible.

On the way home, the phone rang three times before someone picked up.

"Lily?" Victoria's voice carried a trace of tiredness, but it was still clear and warm. "I saw the news. I was just about to call you."

Lily's grip tightened around her phone. Her throat felt tight. "Mrs. Smith, I need to ask you a favor."

"Go ahead."

"You've probably already seen what's happening with Sunrise Hospital." Lily tried to keep her voice steady. "I want to find out the truth about what happened to my mother — I think it's connected to all of this. If there's any way you could help push the investigation forward — through the medical association, or any channel that could apply pressure..."

She stopped herself.

Victoria was Olivia's mother, yes. But that didn't mean she had any obligation to get pulled into something like this.

"Mrs. Smith, I know this has nothing to do with you," Lily added quickly. "If it's not something you're comfortable with—"

"Lily."

Victoria cut her off.

A brief silence. Lily heard the sound of papers turning, like Victoria was looking through some documents.

"I submitted a written request to the medical association this evening," Victoria said, her tone as matter-of-fact as if she were describing something completely routine. "I requested a full review of all newborn death cases in Sunrise Hospital's obstetrics department over the past twenty years — specifically cases involving disputed medical incidents that never went through the courts, cases closed with 'family settlement' or quiet agreements."

Lily went still.

"But I haven't received a response yet." Victoria paused, and something heavier crept into her voice. "Sunrise Hospital's position is that they need time to organize the records — some of the older files are in the middle of being digitized, and retrieval requires going through an approval process."

"In the middle of being digitized?" Lily's brow furrowed. "How long is that going to take?"

"No clear timeline given." Victoria said. "So I filed a second request — to freeze all original paper records from the past twenty years, halt the digitization process, and wait for a third-party oversight body to come in and verify."

She let out a quiet sigh. "That request also didn't get a direct answer. They just said they would 'handle it through proper procedure.'"

Lily's fingertips went cold.

She knew exactly what that meant. There was so much that could be done to records during digitization — pages reordered, entries altered, traces erased. By the time the "process" was complete, whatever was left to read would likely be a carefully cleaned-up version of the truth.

"Mrs. Smith, so right now—"

"Right now, we wait." Victoria's voice was calm, still as deep water. "But we're not waiting on their process. We're waiting on public pressure."

She paused, then added, "Zola's move to request national-level forensic intervention was exactly right. Once a national forensic team steps in, freezing the records becomes mandatory procedure — Sunrise Hospital won't be able to stall. And a proper examination of the baby will help rule out or confirm medical negligence."

Lily listened, and felt only a quiet, heavy grief.

Then she heard it — a soft cough from Victoria's end of the line, broken and halting, like something she'd been holding back and finally couldn't.

Lily caught it immediately.

"Mrs. Smith, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine. Old habit, happens every change of season." Victoria's voice smoothed back out, as if those few coughs had never happened. "Lily, listen to me."

"I'm listening."

"This thing never truly ended — not from the day your mother was gone." Victoria's voice dropped, gentle, like she was afraid of disturbing something. "I know you've been carrying this. All these years, on your own. But you have to remember — this isn't yours alone to carry. However many babies Sunrise Hospital lost, however many mothers were hurt — that account will be settled. It has to be."

Lily's throat tightened sharply.

She fought it, but the tears came anyway, silent.

Victoria, somehow, seemed to sense it. Her voice softened. "But Lily, don't push yourself too hard. You're not alone anymore. You have Olivia. And that friend of yours — your son's father, what's his name again?"

"Mrs. Smith!" Lily hadn't expected Olivia to have said everything. Her face went warm despite herself.

"Alright, alright. A child needs a father." There was a faint smile somewhere in Victoria's voice. "And you have Zola. You have people willing to stand up. Everyone's carrying this with you — for you, and for those children. So tonight, don't think about any of it. Eat something. Sleep."

Lily was quiet for a moment. "Olivia's waiting for me at home," she said, her voice a little muffled.

"Then go home to her." Victoria said it simply, without hesitation. "I don't know what's gotten into Olivia lately — her stomach's been bothering her and she won't take care of herself. Keep an eye on her for me. No more junk food. I made congee for you both — just heat it up before you drink it."

Listening to all of this, Lily felt something shift — the heavy stone that had been pressing against her chest for so long was still there, but something had slipped underneath it, holding up one corner, just enough.

"Mrs. Smith, thank you."

"Don't thank me." Victoria's voice was gentle but firm. "If your mother were still here, she'd never have let you end up carrying all of this alone."

They exchanged a few more words, then said goodnight.

Later that evening, once David had settled things at the house and moved Chase somewhere safe, and Lily knew her son was out of harm's way, she finally let out a long, slow breath.