Chương 2
Daniel touched his lip and stared at the blood on his fingertips.
When he looked up, his anger had changed.
He seemed frightened now.
Not of Ethan.
Of Claire.
“You have no idea what she brought back from the hospital.”
Claire felt Lily’s fingers tighten against her collar.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel stood slowly.
Ethan remained between them.
“Daniel,” Melina said.
This time there was warning in her voice.
Claire heard it.
So did Ethan.
He looked over his shoulder at her.
“Claire, take Lily inside.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No one is taking her anywhere until somebody tells me what’s happening.”
Daniel wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“You weren’t supposed to come home today.”
“My discharge changed.”
“I know that now.”
Claire stared at him.
She had texted him from the treatment center two hours earlier.
Three messages.
No answer.
She had assumed he was working.
Then she had called.
Straight to voicemail.
A tiny, stupid memory surfaced: Daniel complaining three nights ago that his phone battery had become unreliable.
At the time, she had believed him.
Now she could not remember why.
Lily moved against her.
“Mommy, I’m thirsty.”
The ordinary request broke through everything.
Claire looked down.
“Of course you are.”
She touched Lily’s cheek.
“How long were you out here?”
Lily’s eyes shifted toward Melina.
Melina immediately said, “Don’t question her.”
Claire raised her head.
“Why not?”
“She’s confused.”
“She’s thirsty.”
“She’s been saying things.”
Daniel closed his eyes briefly.
Melina continued before he could stop her.
“Things that aren’t true.”
Claire looked at Lily again.
“What things?”
Lily pressed her face into Claire’s shoulder.
Melina’s hand dropped from her cheek.
“Claire, your daughter has been sick.”
“She looks injured.”
“She did that herself.”
Ethan turned sharply.
“What?”
“She scratches herself.”
Melina spoke faster now.
“She falls down, she wakes up screaming, she says people are in her room when nobody is there.”
Claire felt Lily go completely still.
Daniel said, “Mom.”
“I’m trying to make her understand.”
“Then explain the cage,” Claire said.
Melina’s lips tightened.
“She kept running.”
“Running where?”
“Outside.”
“From whom?”
Melina did not answer.
Claire looked at Daniel.
He stared at the ground.
“From whom, Daniel?”
He swallowed.
“Us.”
Lily whispered something against Claire’s coat.
Claire bent her head.
“What, baby?”
“Grandma said Daddy would make the bad lady stop.”
Daniel’s face drained.
Melina stepped toward them.
“Lily, enough.”
Ethan blocked her.
“Don’t come any closer.”
Claire could feel her own pulse beating behind her eyes.
“What bad lady?”
Lily would not answer.
Daniel did.
“Claire.”
She looked at him.
He seemed suddenly older than he had that morning on their last video call, when he had smiled too brightly and told her everything at home was fine.
“Don’t do this in front of her.”
“You brought up the hospital.”
“I shouldn’t have.”
“What did Lily bring back?”
Daniel glanced at his mother.
Melina gave the smallest shake of her head.
Claire saw it.
“Stop looking at her.”
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“Claire.”
“Look at me.”
He did.
“What did our daughter bring back from the hospital?”
Daniel breathed through his nose.
“Not something.”
His voice dropped.
“Someone.”
Claire felt the lawn tilt beneath her.
Ethan turned toward him.
“What are you talking about?”
Daniel pointed toward Lily, though his hand shook.
“She started talking about a woman three days after Claire’s first admission.”
Claire said nothing.
“She said the woman came into her room at night.”
“Children have nightmares.”
“That’s what I said.”
Daniel wiped fresh blood from his lip.
“Then Lily started telling us things she couldn’t know.”
Melina interrupted.
“Enough.”
Daniel ignored her.
“She knew what room Claire was in after they moved her.”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“You told her.”
“I didn’t.”
“Your mother did.”
“I didn’t even know,” Melina said.
Claire looked at Ethan.
He had driven her between buildings after the transfer.
Only the treatment team and two relatives had been informed.
Ethan shook his head once.
“I never told Daniel the room number.”
Claire looked back at her husband.
“What else?”
Daniel hesitated.
Lily suddenly lifted her face.
Her cheeks were wet.
“Mommy.”
“Yes?”
“The lady said you weren’t supposed to come home yet.”
Nobody spoke.
Claire stroked the hair away from Lily’s forehead.
“What lady, sweetheart?”
Lily’s gaze moved past Claire toward the house.
Her body stiffened.
“The one who was sleeping in your bed.”
Claire did not turn toward the house.
Her eyes stayed on Lily’s face.
“What do you mean, sleeping in my bed?”
Lily pressed her lips together.
Daniel took a step forward.
“Don’t push her.”
Claire’s head snapped toward him.
“You don’t get to tell me how to speak to her.”
“I’m trying to keep her calm.”
“You locked her outside.”
“I didn’t lock her anywhere.”
“But you knew something was happening.”
Daniel’s eyes moved toward Melina again.
That glance was becoming its own language.
Claire shifted Lily onto her other hip and felt how light she was.
Too light.
She had been gone six weeks, and the thought arrived with such force that Claire almost lost the thread of the argument.
Had Lily lost weight?
Had anyone noticed?
Had Daniel taken her to the pediatrician?
Had he even been feeding her properly?
“Ethan,” Claire said.
“Yeah.”
“Can you get my phone from my bag?”
Daniel immediately stiffened.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling the police.”
“No.”
Claire stared at him.
Daniel raised both hands.
“Just listen for two minutes.”
“I listened to you for eleven years.”
“That’s not fair.”
A strange laugh escaped her.
Lily flinched again.
Claire lowered her voice at once.
“You’re right, baby.”
She kissed the side of Lily’s head.
“No more yelling.”
Melina folded her arms.
“That would be a welcome change.”
Ethan turned so quickly that Melina took a step backward.
Claire stopped him with a look.
The anger in Ethan’s face was almost comforting because it required nothing from her.
May you like
He did not need her to interpret it.
He crossed to the abandoned overnight bag and pulled out Claire’s phone.
