My heart began to beat so hard I could feel it in my throat.
“What do you mean?”
Brian stepped between us.
“She’s exhausted. Leave us alone.”
The nurse’s voice trembled.
“No. She deserves to know.”
She handed me the paper.
My fingers shook as I unfolded it.
At the top, it was a note from the hospital social worker.
I read slowly, because my eyes were still full of tears.
Father requested that mother not be given the baby again before discharge. Mother appears overwhelmed, emotional, and under pressure. Mother asked to hold baby repeatedly.
The words blurred.
I looked up at Brian.
“You asked them not to bring him to me?”
His jaw tightened.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“From my own baby?”
He looked away.
The nurse stepped closer.
“He told us seeing the baby again would make you unstable,” she said softly. “But that’s not what I saw. I saw a scared young mother who kept asking if her baby had eaten. I saw you crying every time they took him away. I saw you reach for him even when you thought no one noticed.”
