Mark pulled his leather jacket tight around his shoulders as he walked down the long corridor.
The bright fluorescent lights of St. Jude Hospital flickered above his head in silence.
His mother had been resting in room 402 for three weeks after her sudden stroke.
The doctors said her brain needed time to recover from the unexpected swelling.
Mark visited her every single afternoon after finishing his shift at the local auto shop.
He always brought fresh yellow lilies because those were her favorite flowers in the world.
Today felt different from the moment he stepped off the shiny silver elevator.
The air in the hallway felt heavy and unusually cold against his skin.
He noticed that the small glass window on his mother’s door was partly covered.
A thick red scarf was hanging over the edge of the metal handle outside.
Mark paused in the middle of the hallway and lowered his paper coffee cup.
His heart started beating faster against his ribs for reasons he could not explain.
He knew his stepmother Sarah was supposed to be at home resting today.
Sarah had married Mark’s wealthy father five years before his father passed away.
Ever since then, Sarah had controlled the family inheritance and the main estate.
Mark never trusted Sarah because she always seemed interested only in money and fine clothes.
He crept quietly toward the door while holding his breath to avoid making noise.
He put his ear close to the wooden frame to listen for any sound inside.
He heard the soft whisper of heavy silk fabric moving near the bed.
He also heard a faint metallic sound like small keys clinking together in the dark.
Mark gripped the silver door handle with his right hand and squeezed it tight.
He remembered his mother’s frail voice from the night before she fell ill.
She had warned him that someone was searching through her private bank documents at home.
Mark had thought she was just confused because of her old age back then.
Now a dark feeling of regret washed over him as he stood in the hallway.
He pushed the door inward without waiting another second to see what was happening.
The bright afternoon sun flooded through the white blinds of the corner room.
Sarah stood right beside the hospital bed wearing an expensive bright red dress.
She was leaning forward directly over Mark’s unconscious mother with her arm raised high.
A crystal wine glass was sitting on the small bedside tray near the heart monitor.
Mark froze in the doorway as his eyes took in the strange scene before him.
Mark: What are you doing in here right now?
Sarah gasped loudly and jumped backward in complete surprise at the sudden intrusion.
Her arm knocked against the bedside table and sent the wine glass crashing down.
The glass shattered into a dozen sharp pieces across the polished hardwood floor.
Sarah: Mark! You scared me to death! Why did you come so early today?
Mark: I asked you a question, Sarah! Why were you standing over her like that?
Sarah put her manicured hand over her chest and took a rapid step back.
Sarah: I was just checking her pillow to make sure she was comfortable!
Mark: You had your hand raised, Sarah! Do not lie to my face!
Mark stepped into the room and stepped over the broken glass on the floor.
He placed his tall body between Sarah and his mother’s quiet sleeping form.
Sarah: You are completely misinterpreting what you saw, Mark!
Mark: I know what I saw with my own eyes when I opened that door!
Sarah: I dropped her small gold locket behind the bed cushion by accident!
Mark reached down and snatched his mother’s medical chart off the metal footboard.
He saw that the chart had been moved away from its usual hanging hook.
Mark: Why were you reading her private medical record without the doctor present?
Sarah: I have every legal right as her family member to check her progress!
Mark: You are not her blood family, Sarah, and you never cared about her!
Sarah’s face turned pale as her nervous hands twirled a gold ring on her finger.
Sarah: How dare you speak to me like that after everything I have done!
Mark: Get away from her bed right now before I lose my temper!
Mark stepped forward and grabbed Sarah’s arm to move her away from the bed.
Sarah pulled her arm back with a sharp gasp and stumbled against the bedside table.
Sarah: Do not touch me! You have no right to lay a hand on me!
Mark: You have been coming here every day when you thought I was working!
Sarah: I came here to give her her favorite water drops, that is all!
