The nurse checked Lucy’s twins before sending them home, but Lucy was shocked when the nurse brought them back. Instead of a boy and a girl, as Lucy had given birth to, the nurse brought two baby girls.
Lucy and her husband, Ross, had tried for a long time to have children, and they were thrilled when they found out they were expecting twins.
An ultrasound had shown they were having one boy and one girl, so the couple was eagerly waiting for their arrival. But when the nurse returned with two girls after the examination, Lucy’s face went pale.
Source: Pexels“Where is my son? What have you done with him? And who is this other baby girl?” Lucy demanded, looking straight at the nurse who had just brought the babies back.
“They’re both your daughters,” said the nurse, Savannah, her eyes glued to the paperwork. “I checked everything twice, and there’s no mistake.”
“Are you serious?” Lucy snapped. “I have reports showing I was supposed to deliver a boy and a girl. And after the delivery, I was told the same. There’s no way they’re both girls!”
Lucy saw the fear in the nurse’s eyes as she looked up from her papers. She was about to confront her further when Dr. Linda Carter walked in. “Could you please keep your voice down, ma’am? This is a hospital,” she said calmly.
“Keep my voice down? Your nurse brings me the wrong child and tells me she’s sure of it! Is this how your hospital runs? Should I contact the head doctor about this?” Lucy shot back.
“I agree with my wife,” Ross, Lucy’s husband, added. “We don’t want to make a scene, but if our son isn’t returned to us, we’ll call the police!”
“Please, sir, calm down,” Dr. Carter responded. “I’m sure this is just a misunderstanding. Savannah has been with us for years. Maybe she grabbed the wrong paperwork. Savannah, may I see the documents?” Dr. Carter asked. Savannah hesitated and then stammered, “No need, ma’am…I mean, I checked them. They’re correct.”
Dr. Carter sensed something odd and said gently, “It’s okay. Just let me take a quick look.” But when she reviewed the papers, she realized Lucy was right.
“Please give me a moment,” Dr. Carter said. “It seems Savannah brought the wrong reports. Another patient named Lucy Matthews also delivered twins, and it seems Savannah got confused.”
“I’m glad you finally saw the mistake,” Lucy said coldly. “Perhaps next time, your hospital could hire more careful staff.”
“I’m truly sorry, ma’am,” Dr. Carter said, turning to Savannah. “Come with me, Savannah. We need to get the correct records.”
Lucy noticed the tears in Savannah’s eyes as she followed Dr. Carter. Something seemed strange, so she decided to follow them quietly.
She watched as they entered Dr. Carter’s office, where Savannah started to cry. The door was slightly open, so Lucy listened in.
“What were you thinking, Savannah?” Dr. Carter said firmly. “Lucy Matthews delivered twins: a boy and a girl at 10:30 a.m. today. The reports confirm it. Why aren’t you telling the truth?”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Savannah sobbed. “The other baby girl belongs to my sister. Her husband abandoned her when he learned of her pregnancy, and sadly, she passed away after giving birth. I wanted to adopt her, but my husband refused.”
“Why don’t you place her in a foster home?” Dr. Carter suggested. “She’d be taken care of there.”
“I can’t,” Savannah replied, still crying. “My sister’s last wish was for her daughter to grow up in a loving family. When I saw Mr. and Mrs. Matthews today, I thought they’d be a wonderful family for her. So I swapped Mrs. Matthews’ son with my sister’s daughter and took him to the nursery.”
“But that’s not right, Savannah,” Dr. Carter said gently. “You need to return their son now. We’ll keep this confidential. I’ll help you find a solution.”
Hearing this, Lucy felt a mix of emotions. Savannah had no ill intentions; she simply wanted her niece to be part of a loving family. Lucy quietly returned to her room.
A few minutes later, Dr. Carter brought Lucy’s son back and apologized. Having overheard the situation, Lucy chose not to complain. But that night, she couldn’t stop thinking about the other baby girl and her innocent face.
The next morning, Lucy confessed her feelings to Ross. “I can’t stop thinking about her,” she said. “I dreamt about her last night. She was in our home, living happily with us. It doesn’t make sense, but I can’t shake it.”
“It’s because of yesterday, honey,” Ross said, trying to comfort her. “Maybe you need a distraction. How about we go somewhere?”
“No, Ross,” Lucy replied. “I want to adopt her.”
“But honey!” Ross exclaimed. “Are you sure? We already have two newborns. A third would be a lot to manage!”
“I understand, but I can’t ignore this feeling,” Lucy insisted. “Can we please go to the hospital today?”
“Alright, if this is what you want,” Ross agreed. “I’m with you, but I just want to make sure it’s not too much for you.”
Ross eventually changed his mind when he met the baby. She had warm brown eyes with a hint of green and stared at him innocently. He couldn’t resist her charm.
“I’m so glad you’ve decided to adopt her,” Dr. Carter said. “She’s lucky to have found a loving family.”
“Well, doctor,” Lucy said, smiling, “after so much time trying for kids, we can’t ignore this chance now. Just let us know when we can bring her home.”
“As soon as the paperwork is ready,” Dr. Carter assured them.
In time, everything was arranged, and Lucy and Ross took the little girl home. They named her Amelia, and it felt like their family was finally complete.
Savannah often visited them to check in, grateful beyond words. She became a regular visitor, spending weekends with the twins, Sia and Mark, and Amelia.
Recognize her? Better sit before you learn her true identity…
Joan van Ark was born on June 16, 1943, in New York City, New York. Her parents were not connected to the film industry.
When Joan was a teenager acting in Denver, she met actress Julie Harris, and their lives would never be the same.
Julie pushed her to go to the highly regarded Yale Drama School and gain admission using a scholarship she had also set up.
This made Joan Van Ark the second-ever woman to enroll at the Drama School
She [Harris] wrote to the dean and asked him to meet me. “Long story short, my parents drove me to New Haven, Connecticut, to meet the dean, who gave me a scholarship,” Joan recalled.” It was meant to be.” Joan went on to perform in the theatre for a few years, but her real passion was in Television.
Temperature’s Rising, Spider-Woman, and Days of Our Lives
Joan achieved enormous renown as a result of her roles in Temperature’s Rising, Spider-Woman, Days of Our Lives, and even one Bonanza episode. But her role as Valene Ewing on Dallas in 1978 was where she first achieved great popularity. She ended up playing the most important role she has ever had.
Because of how popular the show was, Joan appeared on its spin-off, Knots Landing. a program that was actually written prior to Dallas. Dallas was initially chosen by the producers because it was the best option for portraying affluent households at the time. Joan was then forced to play the same part in Dallas instead of joining the Knots Landing cast.
13 Seasons of Knots Landing ensued for Joan Van Ark
The person who actually convinced Joan to accept the part while already working on two other projects was her husband, renowned newscaster John Marshall. There was a moment when Val Ewing’s mother was scheduled to make her television debut. Surprise, surprise—Julie Harris was chosen for the position. The person who mattered the most to her in all the world was this.
“When the producers told me they had finally last someone to play my mother, I held my breath,” she recalled in a 1984 interview with Florida Today. “I thought, ‘Oh my God, are they going to say Phyllis Diller or Zsa Zsa Gabor, or who?’ Then they said it was Julie Harris, and I went right through the roof. I couldn’t believe they had picked her to be my mother. They didn’t even know we were friends.”
327 Episodes later, Joan Van Ark was ready for new ventures
13 Seasons and 327 episodes later, Joan left a season before the show saw its final season air. She knew many blamed her leaving on the cancellation of the show, but she was ready for new adventures. “I have loved more than life the 13 years I’ve had on that show,” she said. “[Knots Landing creator] David Jacobs is a great influence on my life, has taught me so much about so many things.”
“Ted [Shackelford] is the other half of every breath I take on the show, and personally, he’s a large part of my heart. The people are my family–we have shared marriages, deaths, and divorces. It’s far more difficult to leave than I thought.” Joan thereafter appeared on The Young and The Restless as Gloria Fisher.
In high school, John Marshall first met Joan, and the two quickly got married. They have a lovely daughter named Vanessa Marshall who works in the entertainment industry at the moment. After 56 years of marriage, the pair is still very much in love and leads extremely private lives away from the spotlight.
78 years old with a net worth of $10 million
At 78 years old, Joan has amassed a $10 million net worth and is still as gorgeous as ever when seen out and about in Los Angeles. She was last seen three years ago and was just seen paying for parking at a meter while wearing workout clothes and a ponytail.
She co-starred in the 2017 television film Psycho Wedding Crasher, which was her most recent and final appearance on screen.
Joan Van Ark, who has worked in the film industry for the past 50 years, has joined The Actor’s Studio as a life member. What an icon!
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