Julián believed he was returning to face the worst loss of his life. Instead, a single navy-blue button and one uneasy phone call began to unravel a story that no grieving husband should ever have to question.
The first sign that something was wrong came from Dr. Ana Lucía Méndez. Her voice went quiet before she told him that the records his family had shown everyone were not the hospital’s records.
According to her, Camila had not died in the maternity ward. The hospital had not issued a death certificate for her. There was also no record of their newborn son’s death.
Dr. Méndez explained that Julián’s mother had requested routine prenatal records months earlier, saying they were needed for insurance purposes. At the time, the request had not seemed unusual. But when the doctor heard about Camila’s funeral, she checked the system herself.