The Transfer Code

She and Ivy met in a consultation room without cameras. Neither woman reached for the other's child. Daniel explained that both babies were stable and that identity testing would require consent, custody controls, and an independent lab.

Mara placed her handwritten shift notes on the table. Orison Blue appeared beside seven neonatal transfers over four years. Each chart showed an emergency move, followed by a private placement and corrected birth record.

"Why keep notes?" Lena asked.

"Because the chart kept changing after my shift. Because I kept telling myself a note was courage."

The two heel cards showed that Ivy's infant had first been switched during the outage, then switched back before a later transfer changed the bands again. Someone had used clinical confusion to separate document identity from physical custody.

Naomi pushed her invoices toward Ivy. "I will not sign Celeste's statement."

Ivy answered after a long silence. "I will not call you a buyer."

Mara's pager sounded with an Orison Blue authorization. A premature infant in the NICU had developed respiratory failure. A legitimate transfer was necessary.

The destination hospital was safe.

The transport company belonged to Felix Rourke.