Chapter 4: A Report Made Too Soon
“Someone reported the medicine before Lily even drank it?” Matthew asked.
Elaine nodded.
“That is why I came directly to you instead of waiting until morning.”
Natalie stepped forward.
“Perhaps Claire gave it to her earlier.”
Dr.
Patel looked up from his tablet.
“The test results indicate recent ingestion.
Not something taken at breakfast.”
Natalie’s jaw tightened.
“Then perhaps the time on the report is wrong.”
“It is generated automatically,” Elaine said.
I held the phone toward her.
“Please take this video.”
Natalie reached for it, but Matthew caught her wrist before her fingers touched the screen.
“Don’t.”
She pulled free.
“You cannot keep Chloe from me because of one frightened sentence.”
“No one said anything about keeping Chloe from you,” Elaine replied.
Natalie went still.
Mom moved beside her.
“She’s upset.
We all are.”
I looked at Mom.
“She knew what Elaine was thinking before Elaine said it.”
“Claire, stop turning every word into evidence.”
The ICU doors opened, and a nurse called my name.
“Lily is awake.
One parent can come in.”
I entered while Matthew stayed outside with my family.
Lily looked impossibly small beneath the white blanket.
“Mommy?”
“I’m here.”
“Is Daddy mad at me?”
I took her hand.
“No one is mad at you.”
Her lip trembled.
“Chloe said I had to drink the princess potion or Aunt Natalie would tell everybody I was a baby.”
My fingers tightened around hers.
“Who gave you the cup?”
“Aunt Natalie.
She took a picture after I drank it.”
“Did she say why?”
“She said good girls help their mommies prove things.”
I bent over Lily’s hand as tears reached my chin.
“What things, sweetheart?”
“I don’t know.
Then Chloe pushed me because Aunt Natalie nodded.”
The door opened.
Elaine had entered with Dr.
Patel.
“Lily,” Elaine said gently, “did anyone tell you what to say if you felt sick?”
Lily nodded.
“Aunt Natalie said to say Mommy gave me medicine.”
I pressed my free hand against my mouth.
Dr.
Patel moved closer.
“That is enough for now.”
When I returned to the hallway, Natalie was gone.
“Where is she?” I demanded.
Mom looked toward the elevator.
“She took Chloe home.
You were upsetting them.”
“You let her leave?”
“She is Chloe’s mother.”
“She just used Chloe to harm Lily!”
Dad stepped away from the wall.
“Helen, tell her.”
Mom’s face lost its color.
“Tell me what?” I asked.
Dad held up his phone.
“Natalie came to us two weeks ago.
She said Claire was becoming unstable and careless with Lily.”
Mom shook her head.
“We didn’t believe everything.”
“But you believed enough to say nothing,” Matthew said.
My phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number.
A photograph appeared first.
Chloe was sitting in the back seat of a car, her face wet with tears.
Then came six words:
Mom made me practice what to say.
An audio file followed.
I pressed play, and Natalie’s voice filled the hospital hallway.
“If Claire asks, you saw her put the medicine in Lily’s drink.”
May you like
A second voice whispered, “But I didn’t.”
Natalie answered, “Then practice until it sounds true.”
