Chapter 4 - The Custody Nightmare
I stared at the CPS worker, absolutely certain I had misheard her.
"Banned?" I repeated, my voice shaking with a dangerous kind of quiet.
"My son is in a coma because of that monster, and you are banning me from his room?"
The CPS worker, a stern woman named Ms. Higgins, did not flinch.
"Mrs. Davis reported that Ethan was already vomiting and lethargic when you dropped him off."
"She claims you threatened her into taking him because you wanted to go to the movies."
"Given the severe toxicity in his blood, protocol requires an immediate emergency separation."
Sarah let out a sound that was half-sob, half-growl.
"She is lying to save herself!" Sarah screamed, pointing at Megan.
"She locked him in a freezing basement and fed him adult sleeping pills!"
Megan leaned against the wall, a smug, sickening little smile playing on her lips.
"They're just trying to cover their tracks," Megan lied smoothly to the social worker.
"I was just trying to comfort the poor boy after they abandoned him."
The police officer holding Megan's arm looked disgusted, but he had to follow protocol.
"Ms. Higgins, we are currently arresting Mrs. Davis for child endangerment," he stated.
"I know," Ms. Higgins replied coldly.
"But until I complete a full background check and home evaluation on the parents, no one gets access to the boy."
"He will be placed under state ward protection here in the ICU."
I felt my vision blur with red-hot rage.
I lunged toward Megan, ready to wrap my hands around her throat and squeeze until that smirk disappeared.
Chris caught me around the waist, tackling me back against the waiting room chairs.
"Jason, stop!" Chris whispered fiercely in my ear.
"If you hit her, they will arrest you too, and Ethan will have no one."
I stopped fighting, my chest heaving as tears of absolute helplessness streamed down my face.
They placed two armed hospital security guards outside Ethan's door.
We were forced to sit in the sterile cafeteria, exiled from our own dying child.
Sarah sat silently, staring at her phone screen, which displayed a picture of Ethan smiling in the park.
Chris sat across from us, staring at his hands with a look of profound guilt.
"I'm going to fix this," Chris suddenly whispered, looking up at me.
"What are you talking about?" I asked, my voice hollow.
"Megan thinks she covered her tracks, but she forgot about the security system," Chris explained.
"I installed a nanny cam in the basement two weeks ago because the cleaning lady was stealing."
My heart stopped.
"Does it record audio?" I asked, leaning forward across the plastic table.
"Video and audio," Chris nodded, pulling out his phone.
"It saves directly to a local hard drive in the living room."
"I just need to sneak back into the house and download the footage before Megan's lawyer tells her to destroy it."
Just as Chris stood up to leave, my father's phone rang loudly.
Arthur answered it, listened for three seconds, and dropped the phone on the table.
May you like
"Megan made bail," my father said, his face pale.
"And she is heading back to the house right now."
