Chương 15
“He never lived in Texas.”
“His unit processed records there.”
“So being dead in the wrong state means he wasn’t married?”
“That appears to be the government position.”
“Wonderful.”
“We can appeal.”
“We?”
Earl looked up.
Hannah’s expression was not hostile, only tired.
He placed the papers on the table. “You can appeal. Tessa can help.”
Hannah watched him retreat into formal distance.
“I meant who is we,” she said.
“Nobody.”
“You do that.”
“What?”
“Walk backward while sitting still.”
Earl glanced at Lucy.
Hannah continued, “I asked you to read the letter because I need help. That doesn’t make you Daniel. It doesn’t make you responsible for us.”
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“No.”
The admission surprised her.
Earl shifted Lucy against the pillow. “I don’t know where the line is.”
“I’ll tell you when you cross it.”
“You’ve done that.”
“I’m good at it.”
“Yes.”
“And sometimes you’ll cross it anyway. Then I’ll get mad. That’s how people work.”
“I prefer rules.”
“Babies don’t.”
Lucy made a wet, indignant sound.
Hannah pointed at her. “See?”
Earl looked at the child. “Your mother is using you as evidence.”
Lucy yawned.
“Compelling witness,” he said.
The appeal required proof that Daniel had financially supported Hannah before his death. Their bank account showed irregular transfers, some marked RENT and others marked SORRY.
Tessa raised an eyebrow at the transaction history.
“He believed descriptions were optional,” Hannah said.
One payment of eight hundred dollars had been sent three days before Daniel deployed. Hannah used it to cover utilities and a prenatal appointment she had not yet told him about.
The evidence was enough to reopen the application.
Robert learned of the appeal through the casualty office and submitted a competing claim for unpaid funeral expenses. The amount was legitimate. He had paid for Daniel’s burial and transportation when the military benefit failed to cover several family choices.
Hannah wanted to contest it.
“Why?” Claire asked.
“Because he’s doing it to reduce what Lucy gets.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“No.”
They were sitting in the hospital cafeteria. Hannah tore the paper sleeve from a coffee cup into narrow strips.
“He chose a coffin Daniel would’ve hated,” she said. “Polished oak. Brass handles. Daniel wanted cremation.”
“Did Robert know?”
“Yes.”
“That doesn’t make the expense fraudulent.”
“I know.”
Claire waited.
Hannah stacked the paper strips beside her tray. “I want him to lose something.”
“There it is.”
“Don’t sound pleased.”
“I’m not.”
“He made me prove my marriage while my daughter couldn’t breathe.”
“Yes.”
“He called me unstable in court.”
“Yes.”
“He deserves consequences.”
“Yes.”
Hannah looked up.
Claire folded her hands. “You are allowed to be angry. You are also deciding whether Lucy’s benefits should become the place you punish him.”
“That sounds like therapy language.”
“It probably is.”
“I hate when you do that.”
“I know.”
Hannah stared at the strips of paper.
“What would you do?” she asked.
“My divorce attorney charged me three hundred dollars to discuss two photographs neither of us wanted.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“It’s the answer I have. People spend money to make pain look fair. It rarely works.”
Hannah gave a tired laugh.
She did not contest the legitimate funeral expense. She challenged only the portion that lacked documentation.
Robert received less than he requested and more than Hannah wanted him to have.
No one felt victorious.
In March, the hospital approved Claire’s revised volunteer assessment on a six-month trial basis.
The communications department issued a general statement affirming that neonatal volunteers underwent background checks and task-specific training. It did not name Earl or refute Robert’s claims.
Online attention faded after a local basketball scandal replaced the story.
The word MURDERER remained faintly visible on Earl’s apartment door.
He left it there.
One Saturday, Claire helped him carry groceries upstairs after finding him in the parking lot struggling with two bags and a case of bottled water.
“You bought twelve cans of the same soup,” she said.
“It was discounted.”
“It’s low sodium.”
“I didn’t notice.”
“You hate low sodium.”
“I can add salt.”
“That defeats the purpose.”
“The purpose was the discount.”
His apartment was clean and nearly empty. A television sat on a folding table. Three framed photographs leaned against the wall instead of hanging. One showed a younger Earl in uniform beside a woman with red hair. Another showed a military working dog. The third showed the convoy team, Daniel among them.
Claire set the groceries on the counter.
“Who’s the woman?” she asked.
“My ex-wife.”
“You kept the photograph.”
“She mailed it back.”
“That wasn’t the question.”
Earl placed the bottled water on the floor. “We were married fourteen years.”
“What happened?”
“I came home in pieces she couldn’t see.”
Claire looked at his scarred arms.
“Not those,” he said.
“I understood.”
“She stayed six years after she wanted to leave. Then she left. Fair arrangement.”
“That does not sound fair.”
“It was fair to me.”
“Did you love her?”
“Yes.”
“Do you still?”
He opened a cabinet and placed soup cans inside. “You ask a lot of questions when you’re off shift.”
“I’m trying a new personality.”
“Return it.”
Claire noticed a stack of unopened mail on the counter. “Your landlord sent another notice?”
“No.”
“Bills?”
“Some.”
“You’re avoiding them.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because opening envelopes rarely improves them.”
“That may be the first thing we agree on.”
Earl looked at her.
She told him about the divorce papers, the dining chairs, the photographs.
“What did you decide?” he asked.
“I took one photograph.”
“Which?”
“A beach in Maine. Neither of us is in it.”
“Good beach?”
“Cold.”
“That fits.”
May you like
They ate low-sodium soup with added salt at the small counter. The meal had nothing to do with Daniel, Lucy, hospital policy, or guilt. Earl complained about the building’s laundry machines. Claire admitted she had once worn mismatched shoes through an entire shift. They did not become friends in a single afternoon, but the silence between them stopped requiring explanation.
Lucy reached four pounds, fifteen ounces near the end of March.
