My ears tell me there’s nothing else between me and the fourth floor so I hurry my steps until I reach the door. When I put my ear up to the door, I don’t hear anything. I open it and step into the hallway. My heart pounds in my ears and I’m afraid it might keep me from hearing what’s ahead. One after the other my feet carry me forward. A glance at a sign hanging from the ceiling tells me that the maternity ward is on the other side of the wing. It’s probably only a few hundred feet away, but it looks like miles. The walk there is quiet enough, however. I try to listen for any movement ahead, but there is still nothing. I feel a sense of relief once I stand in front of the door of the maternity ward because I can see the registration desk only a few feet in front of me, a wall of filing cabinets lined behind the desk chair.

I open the door and sneak through quietly and search the filing cabinets. P…P…I can’t see a thing. I pull off my backpack and unzip the top. Maybe Gabe provided me with a flashlight. I sort through the bag, a can of beans… tuna… Swiss Army Knife…flashlight! I pull it out and switch it on, scanning the filing cabinets for P. Once I find it, I open it as slowly as possible and I see about a million files. It’s a good thing Elkhorn University Hospital’s Maternity Ward still used a paper system. When I had come to the ER, I found it annoying to fill out all that paperwork, but I’m glad now.

I flip through the first ones until I finally come to the name Paxton. Paxton… Paxton… Paxton… There are eight Paxtons, total. I thumb through the first file and I hear a noise down the hall. I let a curse pass my lips in a whisper and I switch off the light. I listen for more movement, but it sounds like it’s just one greyskin at the other end moving about aimlessly. I flip on the flashlight again and pick up the next file. Not her. The next file isn’t her. Then the next. On the fifth file, I start to lose hope that Jessi had her baby at Elkhorn University Hospital. Maybe she didn’t have the baby at all.

But then I get to the sixth file. My heart bangs against my chest when I see the name. Jessi M. Paxton. It’s her! I look for a birthdate and she’s as old as I am. The baby was born three years ago. It’s her! Apparently her baby was named Evelyn. Poor Evelyn and Jessi are probably dead now.