Chapter 2
James moved Noah to the examination table.
Emily refused to release him at first.
I didn’t blame her.
“Emily.”
She looked at me.
“Let him help.”
Slowly, she handed Noah over.
James examined the bottle again.
Then the pharmacy record.
“This label is false.”
Ryan immediately said:
“No.”
James looked up.
“The number belongs to an adult prescription.”
Linda scoffed.
“Pharmacies make mistakes.”
“Not this kind.”
“What is it?” Emily asked.
James chose his words carefully.
“Something never intended for an infant. It can cause dangerous drowsiness and feeding problems.”
Emily’s face emptied.
Noah had been sleepy for weeks.
Barely finishing bottles.
Sometimes impossible to wake for feeding.
Ryan had called him lazy.
Linda had called Emily incompetent.
I looked at them both.
“How often?”
Ryan laughed nervously.
“You’re accepting this before anyone knows anything.”
Emma spoke.
“Every night.”
Silence.
Linda turned.
“Be quiet.”
Emma flinched.
I stepped between them.
“What happened every night?”
Emma hugged the teddy bear.
“Grandma put drops.”
Emily’s knees nearly failed.
Ryan snapped:
“She’s four.”
I looked at him.
“So?”
“She makes things up.”
Emma started crying.
Ryan pointed.
“See?”
I stood.
“She’s crying because adults keep calling her a liar.”
Linda rolled her eyes.
“Children lie constantly.”
Emma whispered:
“I don’t.”
Linda leaned toward her.
“You hid the bottle inside a toy.”
“Because you told me.”
“Then you’re admitting you hide things.”
The cruelty was almost elegant.
Turn obedience into guilt.
I looked at James.
“How long has Noah been ill?”
Emily answered.
“Almost five weeks.”
“And when did the unusual sleepiness start?”
“About the same time.”
Ryan interrupted:
“He’s a baby.”
James didn’t look at him.
“His pattern concerned me.”
I turned.
“You knew?”
“I knew something was wrong. I did not know he was receiving this.”
Linda smiled.
“Then perhaps you aren’t much of a doctor.”
James looked at her.
“Or perhaps someone was deliberately hiding what the child was given.”
That silenced her.
Then Emily whispered:
“Every time Noah got worse…”
I looked at her.
“What?”
She stared at Ryan.
“You insisted your mother stay overnight.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
May you like
The illness had not merely happened around Linda.
It had been creating opportunities for her to remain close to Noah.
