Chapter Six

When the Nurse came to see Daphne, she sprang into action. The Nurse was in her early twenties and had blonde hair and blue eyes.

"There was someone in my room last night," Daphne said.

The Nurse looked at her, confused.

"What do you mean there was someone in your room?" the Nurse asked.

"I mean someone that wasn't meant to be in here," Daphne explained. "Not a nurse, not an orderly and definitely not a doctor,"

The Nurse found that disturbing.

"How do you know if it wasn't any of those kinds of staff members?" the Nurse asked.

"Because whoever it was took photos of me while I was trying to sleep," Daphne said. "I didn't know who it was because they didn't wake me to announce themselves. This person just came in and walked to my bed. So, I kept my eyes closed and heard whoever it was taking photos of me, and I was so scared,"

"When did this happen?" the Nurse asked concerned.

Daphne thought about that momentarily.

"It would have been about three o'clock in the morning," Daphne said. "I was having trouble sleeping,"

The Nurse sighed in pity for Daphne.

"I really hate to tell you this, but our security systems went down before midnight, and the tech team got them operating a little after six-thirty this morning," the Nurse said.

Daphne took that all in, and she couldn't believe it.

"So, we have no way of knowing who was in my room taking photos of me?" Daphne asked. "There's no way we can track this creep down and have him arrested?"

"I can get the head of security to come and visit you," the Nurse said. "That's the best we can do,"

With the hopelessness of the situation, Daphne couldn't see how that could be the best thing they could do.

XXXXX

Daphne spoke to the head of security, and they were positive, but she didn't believe anything they had to say because it seemed impossible for them ever to find the creep. The bigger problem Daphne had was facing her parents. They finally came to see her later that day. Both of them had dour expressions on their faces.

"I can't believe we're here," Mrs Blake said. "It's the last place we should be,"

"What's so bad about being in a hospital?" Daphne asked. "People come to hospitals every day,"

Mr Blake walked quickly to Daphne's bed.

"That's not what your mother means," Mr Blake said. "You shouldn't be here at all. You shouldn't have shamed our name like this,"

Daphne didn't say anything momentarily as she thought of something to say.

"I didn't mean to get pregnant, Dad," Daphne said. "It's something that happened, and I did a good thing by giving my child up for adoption,"

Daphne didn't mean that at all. She hated that she had to give up her son, and she just wanted her parents to leave her alone. But her mother wouldn't leave her alone, so she walked closer to her bed.

"You're damn right you did a good thing but don't think of me as a fool, young lady," Mrs Blake said, nearly shouting. "I know you wanted to keep that bastard child, but that would never happen as long as you live under our roof. So, until you get married, keep your legs closed. Is that clear?"

"Y-Y-Yes, Mom," Daphne replied nervously.

Mrs Blake moved her face closer to Daphne's face.

"You better do something incredible with your life," Mrs Blake said. "Because if you don't, your shame will never go away,"

Daphne was so nervous all she could do was nod. Mrs Blake was happy that Daphne was still scared of her and hoped that would always be true.

XXXXX

The day Daphne dreaded the most was her last day in hospital. Her last day to be with William and say goodbye. But all of her hopes of doing that were destroyed when her parents arrived at eight o'clock in the morning, not nine o'clock. As they walked into her room, Daphne couldn't believe it. A Nurse also entered the room pushing a wheelchair.

"Mom, Dad," Daphne said. "I thought you were going to be here in an hour,"

"Well, you know that the Blake family is the main contributor to this hospital, and they were very accommodating to us arriving early and taking you home," Mrs Blake said. "So be a good girl and get in that wheelchair,"

Daphne couldn't believe what was happening.

"No, I don't need a wheelchair," Daphne said. "I can walk,"

"It's a hospital rule, Daphne," the Nurse said. "You have to get in this wheelchair, and we'll push you outside,"

Daphne knew the situation was hopeless, so she looked at her mother quickly.

"Mom, I need to say goodbye to William," Daphne said. "Please,"

"Daphne, there's no need for that," Mrs Blake said sternly. "He's seen you enough times, and with our agreement with the Ballards, he's not going to remember you. Now get in that chair,"

That was the last thing she wanted to do. Instead, Daphne got out of bed, walked past her parents and the Nurse and walked down the corridor to the nursery. But she felt someone grab her waist from behind with both arms. It was her father.

"Daphne, you heard your mother," Mr Blake said. "Now get in that chair so we can go home,"

Daphne started crying as her mother walked in front of her.

"Mom, please!" Daphne pleaded tearfully. "Let me see my son! Let me say goodbye!"

"Get in that chair!" Mrs Blake shouted.

Daphne was utterly defeated, and she knew she had no choice but to get in the wheelchair. As Daphne sat down and the Nurse wheeled her outside, she couldn't imagine feeling happy again.

XXXXX

Nearly a week after Daphne returned home, she fell into a hopeful routine of receiving her acceptance letter into university. So far, no one has sent a rejection or acceptance letter. But that day, Daphne received something else entirely: A card from Michael and Katherine Ballard. It had a cartoon baby boy on the front. Daphne opened it and a printed photo of Michael, Katherine, with William in her arms was inside the card. Daphne made the mistake of smiling as Mrs Blake saw her smiling from the living room window.

"Dear Daphne," the card read. "We are so grateful for the gift you have given us. We promise we will take good care of William and give him the best possible life we can possibly give. Thank you so much, and with all the love in our hearts. Michael, Katherine and William. XX OO,"

Tears of joy streamed down Daphne's face as Mrs Blake snatched the card away.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Daphne asked, shocked.

Mrs Blake didn't answer as she read the message on the card. After reading it, she tore the card up.

"Mom, no!" Daphne cried out.

Then Mrs Blake saw the photo Daphne was holding.

"Hand it over right now," Mrs Blake said. "Or else!"

Daphne's hand trembled as she handed over the photo. Mrs Blake tore it up, then took out her cell phone. She selected a number and waited for her call to be answered.

"Hello," Michael said when he answered the phone.

"This is Mrs Blake," Mrs Blake shouted. "I thought we had a deal, and the deal was that you were to have no contact with my daughter! How dare you send her that card and photo! And if you contact her in any way again, we'll take you to court! Is that understood?"

"Y-Y-Yes, that's understood," Michael said nervously.

As Mrs Blake continued to shout at Michael, Daphne never felt so ashamed to be her daughter.

XXXXX

Another week passed and Daphne finally got the letter she was waiting for when she opened the mailbox. An acceptance letter from the Chicago Creative and Tech University. Daphne screamed with joy which caused Mrs Blake to come out immediately.

"Daphne, stop screaming like that," Mrs Blake said immediately. "Do you really want to embarrass us in front of our neighbors?"

Daphne didn't care and she showed her mother the letter. She grinned from ear to ear after reading the letter.

"A full scholarship!" Mrs Blake said, excited. "This is amazing! You'll finally be able to do something amazing with your life after carrying and giving birth to that bastard son!"

Daphne hated the way she ruined the moment for her. It was heartbreaking to give up her son, but to insult her future because she had a son was the last thing she needed. But as Daphne knew how crazy her mother was, she knew she had to keep her mouth shut. But there was something else she didn't know. The Warden was responsible for getting Daphne into university through his connections outside of Coolsville Prison and he was watching her from his car down the street as she collected the mail from the mailbox. Satisfied that Daphne had read the letter he drove away so he could work on the next phase of his plan for her.