Dr. Wagner’s dark, menacing eyes bore into her. This time, there
was no softening of his eyes or words of apology for her.
He grabbed her by the elbow and roughly pulled her over to
the operating arena.
Dr. Sheldon turned around, a look of surprise on his face.
“What . . . ?”
“It’s okay, Sheldon, I got this.” Dr. Wagner ordered Sophie
forward. “Since you’re so determined to see what goes on in here,
you’re going to watch.”
Sophie pulled back, trying to twist out of his grasp so she
could run the other way. Dr. Wagner squeezed her arm harder
and pulled her over to stand next to him. He placed each of his
hands on either side of her head and held it like a vise, forcing
her to face the baby, the doctors, and the scene that played out
before her.
Blue drapes covered the baby. The men in white coats wore
surgical masks and gowns. With a small clamp, one of the assis
tants held up the baby’s dried umbilical cord. Another assistant
moved to his right, blocking Sophie’s view, but not before she
caught a glimpse of a small stainless-steel probe in his hand.
After a minute of low conversation between Dr. Sheldon and
the assistants, she heard a clicking sound and saw a waft of
smoke rise into the air. One of the white coats carried a clamp
to the counter and placed what was held in the clamp under the
microscope.
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Sophie’s eyes remained fixed on the scene in front of her, but
her attention was interrupted.
“Mitch, I don’t think Mrs. Young should stay. She’s already
seen too much.”
Sophie felt sick. “Dr. Sheldon, what are you doing to these
poor little babies? Why are you letting him make you do this?”
Dr. Wagner grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the door.
She felt like she was part of some nightmarish sci-fi movie.
“How can you get away with this?” she growled at Dr. Wag
ner. Over her shoulder, she called back to Dr. Sheldon, “Does
that baby’s mother know what you’re doing?”
“It’s just a circumcision,” one of the white coat assistants
yelled back.
She tried to run out the door, but Dr. Wagner held her tight.
Once they were in the hallway, he loosened his grip. “Look,
Sophie,” he said in a calm tone. “I’ve been playing nice. I’ve got
ten your son into the best pediatric practice on the Upper East
Side. I’ve apologized for what was misconstrued as inappropriate
bedside behavior during delivery. Whatever you’re thinking, just
forget it. Sheldon is working on something that will save the lives
of many children, young boys like Danny. But he can’t announce
it yet because he’s not ready. It’s not ready.”
Sophie glared at him. “So he’s not just doing a circumcision”
was more a statement than a question.
Ignoring what she said, Dr. Wagner continued. “I can see the
wheels turning.” He lightly tapped her on the forehead. “I know
you’re planning on telling Adam, or Kim, or anybody who will
listen to you. But I strongly advise against that. For one thing,
it will be your word against Sheldon’s and mine. Trust me, you
don’t want to go sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”
Sophie started to say something.
He put his finger on her lips. “Shhh. Nobody will believe
you. If you try to bring anybody here, there will be nothing here
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JULIE HATCH
to back up your story. You’ll sound like a crazy woman with post
partum psychosis,” he said with a wolfish smile.
Her guard started to weaken.
“What happens in Sheldon’s lab stays in Sheldon’s lab until
we’re ready to release the results.” With his hands on both her
shoulders, he looked directly at her. She couldn’t read what was
going on behind those piercing brown eyes. “And, Sophie,” Mitch
went on, “if that’s not enough to convince you, just remember
that Danny is in our NICU. Okay?”
She felt deflated, no longer wanting to fight.
Sophie turned and started to walk away from Dr. Wagner.
Once she was out of his reach, she broke into a run and fled back
to the NICU, wiping away tears. Outside the NICU, she paused
and took some deep breaths to collect herself.
She walked into the pod, where all was quiet. It was 3 a.m.
She had to hurry. Danny’s nurse was walking toward the chair
where her jacket hung.
Sophie called out. “Excuse me, do you have some Tylenol?
I’m having the hardest time falling asleep.”
“I’m not really supposed to give parents any medicine.” The
nurse moved closer to her jacket, then stopped in front of the
chair and turned to Sophie. “But you know what might help?”
Sophie looked quickly from the nurse to her scrubs jacket,
where the ID should have been. “What?” she nearly shouted with
nervousness.
“Some warm milk. I’ll go heat up a mug in the microwave.”
Sophie breathed a sigh of relief. Then, with alarm, she won
dered if that meant the nurse would have to leave the unit and
take her ID with her. “Oh, no, that’s okay.”
“It’s no bother. There’s a mini fridge and a microwave behind
the nurses’ station. I’ll be right back.”
Danny’s nurse called into the next pod, asking for someone
to keep an ear out and telling them she’d be right back. Before
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any alarms could go off, Sophie returned the ID to its rightful
place on the jacket.
Later, Sophie tossed and turned. She had to tell Adam and
Kate about what she had witnessed. Then she remembered Dr.
Wagner’s menacing voice and that look in his eyes, silently
threatening her to not even think about saying anything. She
wanted to let Rihanna know what her lover boy was up to. But
that wasn’t going to happen. At least not yet.
She pulled out the business card that she had taken from Dr.
Sheldon’s desk earlier. Clasping the card, Sophie drifted off to
sleep, the warm milk finally taking effect
