Stay Out Of It

The microphone felt heavier in Amelia’s hands. Her palms were sweaty, and the weight of every eye in the room pressed against her chest. Still, she held her ground.

“How do you expect people to trust you,” she asked, her voice sharp, “when you keep hiding secrets?”

Gasps rippled through the audience. From the parents, the nurses. Kris stood at the front of the room, hands folded neatly in front of him, his expression unreadable.

After a pause, he smiled. “That’s a fair question.”

He looked straight at Amelia, then turned slightly toward the rest of the room. “But you see,” he began calmly, “some secrets aren’t necessarily about deception. Some are about protection.”

His voice carried confidence, every word with purpose. “Take this hospital, for example. There are several medications that save children’s lives. But those same drugs sometimes have side effects. If the hospital released every bit of that information to the public, people would panic. No one would want their children treated.”

He spread his hands slightly. “So yes, some things are kept hidden because they’re necessary. To protect people. To keep them safe.”

Murmurs of agreement filled the air. Amelia’s stomach twisted. He was good. He could turn any argument into a speech that made him sound so noble.

Amelia tightened her grip on the mic. “And who decides what’s ‘necessary,’ Mr Fox? You?”

Kris tilted his head, a faint smirk tugging at his lips. “Well someone has to make the hard decisions.”

“Hard decisions?” Amelia’s voice trembled with emotion. “You mean selfish ones. You're deliberately hiding things, and when people get hurt, you say it was for their own good. That’s cowardly.”

The room went silent. The doctor cleared his throat, looking ready to step in, but Kris didn’t back down.

He stared at her for a long moment before asking quietly, “Do you have a child, Miss Amelia?”

Her breath hitched. The question hit unexpectedly. “What?”

“A child,” he repeated softly. “Do you have one?”

Amelia hesitated. For a moment, she wanted to scream yes. She wanted to tell him there and then about Mikey, but the words stuck in her throat.

Finally, she forced a smile and said, “No. I don’t.”

Kris nodded slowly. “Then you wouldn’t understand.”

It was like the ground fell beneath her. She swallowed the ache in her throat and sat down, her fingers trembling.

He had no idea. And she hated that she couldn’t tell him.

As the applause began for Kris’s closing remarks, Amelia’s mind wasn’t in the room anymore. It was drawn six years back, on that faithful night, in that tent, that mistake that changed everything.

If only he knew… she thought bitterly. If only he knew Mikey was his son.

“Thank you, Mr. Fox, for that enlightening session,” the doctor said with forced cheer. “Parents, please proceed to the children’s section to pick up your kids and complete their respective checkups.”

Amelia was already halfway out of her seat before he finished the sentence. She slung her bag over her shoulder and hurried toward the hallway, her heart pounding.

She spotted Mikey running toward her. “Mom!”

She knelt and hugged him tightly. “Hey, sweetheart. Are you okay?”

Mikey nodded, his eyes full of concern. “Yeah. Are you okay, Mommy?”

Amelia forced a smile. “Of course I am. Let’s just get your checkup done, and then we can get out of here, okay?”

She glanced behind her, Kris was nowhere in sight. Thank God. She took Mikey’s hand and started walking faster.

But just then, crowds began flooding through the hallway, parents trying to find their children, nurses giving directions. It was chaos.

Mikey tugged her sleeve. “Mom, come on. This way!”

“Mikey, slow down—”

Before she could finish, he pulled her into a side room.

The doctor inside smiled kindly. “Oh, perfect timing. Please, take a seat.”

Amelia exhaled, adjusting Mikey on the chair. “Thank you.”

The doctor flipped through the chart. “Hmm. It says Mikey’s last checkup was months ago.”

Amelia winced. “Yeah, things have been… complicated lately.”

“Well,” the doctor said gently, “no harm done. From what I can tell, his scans are perfectly normal. He’s a healthy little boy, keep it up.”

Amelia’s shoulders dropped in relief. “Thank you, doctor.”

The doctor smiled. “And please try to bring him in next month, regular checkups are important”

Amelia smiled weakly. “I try.”

She held Mikey’s hand as they walked out, her heart lighter. “Hear that Mikey? You’re all good.”

******

Meanwhile, in another room, Kris was sitting beside Leo as the doctor finished up his checkup.

“Leo’s doing great,” the doctor said. “Nothing’s unusual.”

Kris nodded distractedly. His thoughts were elsewhere—on Amelia, the look in her eyes when she asked those questions.

“Dad?”

Kris blinked and looked down. “Yeah?”

“I saw Mikey today,” Leo said cheerfully. “He was here with his mom.”

Kris froze. “Mikey?”

Kris’s mind spun. Amelia was here. With Mikey and not Mel—his mom?

He leaned back, crossing his arms as his thoughts raced. Why?

As Kris and Leo stepped out of the room, Kris stopped dead in his tracks.

Across the hall, just a few steps away, Amelia and Mikey walked out of their own checkup room, facing him directly.

For a moment, everything stilled.

Mikey looked up at Kris curiously. Amelia froze, every muscle tense.

Then Kris began walking toward them.

Amelia’s heart pounded. She instinctively stepped back, pulling Mikey close.

Kris stopped a few feet away, his tone calm but his eyes sharp. “Shouldn’t Mel be here with Mikey? She is his mom isn't she?”

Amelia narrowed her eyes. “That’s none of your business.”

“Everything concerning you seems to be my business lately Amelia,” he said smoothly.

She turned away, gripping Mikey’s hand tighter. “Well you better stay out of it.”

Kris took a slow step closer. “You can’t run from me forever, Amelia.”

She stopped. She turned back, meeting his gaze head-on. “Watch me.”

For a second, neither of them moved. The hallway around them buzzed with noise, doctors talking, kids laughing, but for them, it was just silence.

Then Amelia turned sharply and walked away with Mikey.

Kris watched her go, his expression unreadable. Then, slowly, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

He looked down at Leo and said quietly, “Let’s go, buddy.”

They walked out of the hospital together, the afternoon sun bright outside. Kris opened the car door for Leo, then slipped his phone from his pocket.

He dialed a number and waited.

A voice answered on the other end.

“Yeah?”

Kris’s tone was calm, but his eyes glinted with something dangerous. “Am I speaking with the owner of the Daily gossip?”

A pause. “Yes. Who’s this?”

Kris leaned against the car, his smirk returning. “Let’s just say, I have an offer for you. One I know you'll be interested in”

“Go on"