Chapter 5: The Footage

Jonas found me in the NICU family lounge on Friday afternoon, holding a cold cup of hospital coffee.

I had been up for thirty-two hours and had slept maybe four.

He sat across from me and set his phone on the low table.

"I called the plaza manager this morning," he said. "Lot cameras run all day. I asked for the footage from the awning."

"Is that allowed?"

"A woman went into labor on their floor. They were glad to help."

He said it dryly, and I thought he might have asked more than once.

"I wanted to see the whole thing," he said. "Not just the part I walked in on."

"Why?"

"Because somebody told a social worker you were hysterical, and that didn't match the woman I lifted off that tile."

I looked at the phone.

"Do you want to watch it?" he asked. "You don't have to."

"Yes."

He turned the screen toward me and pressed play.

It was black and white and silent, taken from high up under the awning.

The gray SUV came into frame in the sleet, and the headlights swung across the lot.

I saw myself get out of the passenger side with one hand on my belly.

I saw Marjorie reach over the seat and wind her scarf around my neck.

It looked so kind from up there.

I walked around to the back of the car, and the trunk lifted partway.

Garrett pulled the lever from inside and it dropped again.

Marjorie's window rolled down an inch.