Chapter 2 - The Hospital Waiting Room
The fluorescent lights of the pediatric intensive care unit buzzed like angry hornets.
I paced the length of the waiting room, my heels clicking sharply against the sterile linoleum floor.
Lily had been in emergency brain surgery for two agonizing hours to relieve the pressure from a subdural hematoma.
James sat in a plastic chair with his head buried in his hands, completely consumed by guilt over the stolen phone.
"We can use the neighbor's cell phone video," I told him, trying to keep my own panic suppressed.
"I saw Mr. Henderson recording the aftermath from the patio door," I reminded him gently.
Before James could reply, the heavy double doors of the waiting room swung open.
My brother Travis walked in, wearing a tailored suit and an arrogant smirk that made my stomach turn.
He was the absolute last person I wanted to see near my child's hospital room.
"What are you doing here, Travis?" I demanded, stepping squarely into his path.
Travis casually adjusted his expensive silk tie and looked down his nose at me.
"Mom and Dad sent me to make sure our little niece is pulling through," he said with fake sympathy.
"You are not allowed anywhere near her," James growled, standing up from his chair.
Travis laughed, a sharp, cruel sound that echoed down the quiet hospital corridor.
"You two really overplayed your hand tonight by calling the cops on Dad," Travis sneered.
"He is going to spend years in a federal penitentiary for what he did," I fired back.
Travis shook his head slowly, his smirk growing even wider.
"You have been out of the local prosecutor's office for a long time, little sister," he mocked.
"You forgot how things actually work in this town when you have the right friends."
I felt a cold dread wash over my chest as I processed his arrogant words.
"What did you do?" I asked, my voice dropping to a dangerous whisper.
Travis pulled his perfectly intact, fully charged cell phone from his pocket and checked his messages.
"I just wanted to let you know that Dad is already home, sleeping comfortably in his own bed," Travis announced.
"That is impossible," I countered, knowing felony assault of a minor carried a mandatory holding period without bail.
"Not when the magistrate judge on duty happens to be Dad's weekly golf partner," Travis replied smoothly.
He took a step closer to me, his cologne smelling heavily of expensive scotch and cigars.
"Drop the charges, Rebecca, or this family will destroy everything you and your husband have ever built."
I stood my ground and looked my brother directly in the eyes without blinking.
"I will burn this entire family to the ground before I let him get away with this," I promised.
Travis simply smiled, turned on his heel, and walked out of the hospital waiting room.
Just as the doors closed behind him, a woman in a cheap gray pantsuit walked toward us carrying a thick clipboard.
I assumed she was a hospital administrator coming to ask for our insurance information.
Instead, she flashed a state badge and looked at me with cold, evaluating eyes.
"I am a caseworker with Child Protective Services," the woman stated flatly.
"I am here to investigate a disturbing report regarding the safety of your daughter," she continued.
I let out a breath of relief, assuming the hospital had automatically flagged my father's assault.
"I can tell you everything about what my father did to her," I offered immediately.
The caseworker frowned and flipped to the second page on her clipboard.
May you like
"I am not here to investigate your father, Mrs. Hutchinson," she said in a deadly serious tone.
"I am here because your mother filed a sworn statement claiming that you pushed Lily into the kitchen counter."
