Halfway down the page was a hospital name.
I recognized it instantly.
My heart began pounding.
“Nora…”
She watched my face.
“Keep reading.”
I looked back at the document.
It described an infant girl who had entered emergency protective care five years earlier.
There were inconsistencies between the hospital identification information and the records used when the child entered the care system.
Then I saw the date.
The same week Lucy had been born.
I pushed the paper away.
“No.”
Nora reached toward me.
“Claire—”
“No. That doesn’t mean anything.”
My voice sounded strange.
“Babies are born at that hospital every day. There could be hundreds of children with similar records.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you showing me this?”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Because there’s something else.”
She took out another document.
I stared at it without moving.
Then Nora explained.
“When the agency noticed the dates and hospital information, the caseworker suggested investigating whether Ellie might have a biological connection to someone in our family.”
