“Yes,” she replied, her voice steady as steel. “There was a report of verbal harassment contributing to a patient’s panic. If the situation escalates, security can remove the visitor.”

Derek swallowed hard. I saw something shift behind his eyes—fear, perhaps—but not fear of me.

Fear of consequences.

As if he was finally realizing that his mother’s behavior wasn’t just “family drama” anymore. It was something the hospital could record, file, and act on.

A few minutes later, Janice appeared in the doorway again, forcing a thin smile.

“Mia,” she said sweetly, her voice dripping with syrup, “I just want to support you.”

Nurse Thompson didn’t move an inch. “Ma’am, you need to step back.”

Janice’s smile faltered. “I’m not leaving without seeing my grandchild.”

My hands trembled as I gripped the blanket. “Then you might not see either of us,” I whispered.

And that was when Derek finally looked at his mother and said, louder than he ever had before,

“Mom… you have to go.”

Janice’s face twisted with fury.

“You’ll regret this,” she hissed.

And I knew that threat wasn’t meant only for me.

It was aimed at Derek too—because for the first time, he had stopped pretending.

Part 3

Janice didn’t leave quietly. She threw her arms in the air, loudly declaring to everyone in the hallway that I was “alienating” her, and even tried to push past Nurse Thompson. Security showed up within minutes. They didn’t handle her roughly—they didn’t have to. They simply stood there calmly and repeated the same words until it became unavoidable:

“Ma’am, you must leave.”

Janice’s eyes burned as she looked past them at Derek. “You’re choosing her over your own mother?”

Derek’s lips trembled. “I’m choosing my wife and my baby,” he said, as if the words themselves were painful. “Because you’re hurting her.”

Janice scoffed, but the confidence in her voice had begun to crack. She turned her glare toward me. “This isn’t over.”

When the doors finally closed behind her, the atmosphere in the room shifted—lighter, quieter, safer. I hadn’t realized how tense my body had been until my muscles began trembling with relief.