Chương 11
“She’s on CPAP.”
“Is that bad?”
“It’s support.”
He sat beside me.
“Dr. Howard said she’s doing what they expected.”
“How much does she weigh?”
“Four pounds, eleven ounces.”
I closed my eyes.
So small.
“What else?”
“She has your nose.”
“That poor child.”
“She has hair.”
“I saw.”
“A lot of hair.”
“Show me.”
He opened his phone.
The first picture was terrible.
Lila lay beneath the warmer with tubes and wires around her, one tiny hand raised beside her face.
My stomach lurched.
Then I saw her fingers.
Five perfect fingers.
Another photo showed Evan’s index finger resting inside her palm.
Her entire hand barely wrapped around the tip.
“She held you?”
“She grabbed me.”
Jealousy hit me so sharply that I felt ashamed.
“You got to touch her.”
His smile disappeared.
“Savannah.”
“I know.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No.”
I wiped at my eyes.
“That was ugly.”
“It was human.”
“I should be happy you were there.”
“You can be happy and jealous.”
“I hate this.”
“I know.”
He turned the phone toward me again.
“There’s a video.”
In it, Lila moved her mouth beneath the respiratory support while her chest rose and fell quickly.
There was no dramatic music.
No miracle.
Just fluorescent NICU light and the hum of machines.
I watched it three times.
Then my phone began vibrating against the table.
Evan looked at it.
“Denise.”
“Answer.”
He put the call on speaker.
Denise’s voice came through immediately.
“Savannah?”
“I’m here.”
“Oh, thank God.”
Her voice cracked.
“What happened?”
“Lila was born.”
Silence.
Then Denise started crying.
“Is she okay?”
“She’s in the NICU.”
“Oh, honey.”
“She’s breathing.”
“Okay.”
I could hear people behind Denise.
A door closing.
Someone talking.
Then she lowered her voice.
“I need to tell you something.”
Evan and I looked at each other.
“What?”
“The police came back.”
“To the house?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“Emily showed them the video.”
My stomach tightened.
“And?”
Denise inhaled.
“Your mom was arrested.”
I stared at the wall.
The news did not feel satisfying.
It did not feel tragic either.
It simply landed.
Heavy.
Final.
“For hitting me?”
“For assault.”
I closed my eyes.
“Dad?”
“He followed them to the station.”
“Brianna?”
There was a pause.
“She’s blaming you.”
Of course she was.
Denise continued.
“She said none of this would have happened if you’d just given her the money.”
Evan stood up.
His face went hard.
I touched his wrist.
He looked down at me.
“Don’t.”
He sat again.
Denise said, “I’m sorry.”
“No.”
I stared at Lila’s picture on Evan’s phone.
“She said it.”
“Yes.”
“Then I needed to know.”
Another pause.
Then Denise said, “There’s something else.”
My throat tightened.
“What now?”
“The video caught more than the slap.”
I looked at Evan.
“What do you mean?”
“After you fell in the pool.”
“I know about the laughing.”
“No.”
Denise’s voice became quieter.
“After that.”
The recovery room seemed to narrow around me.
“What did they say?”
“Your mom told Brianna not to worry.”
“About what?”
Denise hesitated.
Then she said, “About the money.”
My hand went still.
“What exactly did she say?”
“She said, ‘If Savannah won’t give it willingly, we’ll get it another way.’”
For several seconds, I forgot that I had just had surgery.
I tried to sit up.
Pain ripped across my abdomen beneath the numbness, and Karen caught my shoulder before I got far.
“Easy.”
“What does that mean?”
My voice came out too loud.
“What does another way mean?”
Denise was crying again.
“I don’t know.”
“Did Brianna answer her?”
“Yes.”
My fingers curled into the blanket.
“What did she say?”
There was a pause long enough to become its own answer.
“She said, ‘You promised.’”
Evan stood so quickly his chair scraped the floor.
Karen looked toward him, then back at me.
I barely noticed.
“Promised what?”
“I don’t know.”
“Denise.”
“I swear to you, I don’t know.”
I could hear her breathing through the phone.
“The video gets chaotic after that because Emily starts moving.”
I closed my eyes.
The incision beneath the dressing pulsed with my heartbeat.
“She promised Brianna my money.”
“That’s what it sounds like.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Evan looked at me.
“It makes sense if Patricia thought she could pressure you into it.”
“But after I fell?”
I pressed my palm against my forehead.
“After my water broke?”
Neither of them answered.
That was the worst part.
The possibility had become too ugly for reassurance.
Karen stepped closer.
“Savannah, your blood pressure is climbing.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not.”
“I need to know what they meant.”
“You also need to recover from major surgery.”
I looked at her.
For a second, I hated her for being right.
Then the hatred disappeared because it had nowhere reasonable to go.
I turned back toward the phone.
“Denise, send the whole video to Evan.”
“Are you sure?”
“No.”
I swallowed.
“Send it anyway.”
Evan shook his head.
“You don’t have to watch it tonight.”
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
Denise said, “I’ll send it.”
Then her voice softened.
“Savannah, I’m so sorry.”
I stared at the white blanket over my legs.
“I need you to do something else.”
“Anything.”
“Don’t talk to Brianna about this anymore.”
Denise was quiet.
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want her knowing what I know.”
Evan’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He understood before Denise did.
“You think there’s more.”
“I think there might be.”
Denise inhaled.
“Okay.”
“And don’t tell Dad.”
“I won’t.”
“Emily either.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
“No.”
I rubbed my eyes.
“Don’t make it sound like a conspiracy.”
A laugh escaped Denise through her tears.
“Fair.”
“Just tell her the police may need the original file and she shouldn’t post anything.”
“That I can do.”
“Thank you.”
We ended the call.
The room became very quiet.
Karen checked my blood pressure again.
“Still higher than I’d like.”
May you like
“I’m guessing family blackmail isn’t good for postpartum recovery.”
“Generally not on the discharge instructions.”
