Chapter 3 - THE MOTHER THEY WANTED TO BLAME
Child Protective Services arrived before midnight.
The investigator, Dana Kim, introduced herself quietly and asked Laura when she had last administered medication. Ethan answered first.
“My wife handles all of it.”
“I asked Mrs. Ellison.”
Laura listed every dose, every temperature reading, every call to Dr. Mercer. She had written them in a notebook because exhaustion made time blur. The notebook was in Emma’s nursery.
Ethan gave Dana a look of sorrowful patience. “Laura has been under pressure since her father died. She sometimes believes ordinary illness means catastrophe.”
“My father died four years ago.”
“Grief has no schedule,” Christine murmured.
Vera sat outside the glass wall, visible whenever Laura looked up. She wore Ethan’s coat over her black dress.
Dana asked who else had access to Emma’s medication.
“Ethan. Christine. Rosa,” Laura said. “And apparently Vera, since she tried to take my child today.”
“She was helping,” Ethan replied.
The story had been prepared before the hospital. Laura could feel its shape: an anxious mother, an accidental overdose, a devoted father forced to intervene.
Dana ordered that neither parent be alone with Emma until preliminary testing was complete. Ethan protested just enough to look caring. Laura saw satisfaction beneath it.
At two in the morning, Rosa arrived carrying the knitted blanket Laura had left at home.
She embraced Laura in the corridor and whispered, “Do not go back to that house.”
“Why?”
Rosa glanced toward Ethan. “Mrs. Ellison emptied the nursery trash. Mr. Ethan took your medicine notebook. Miss Fontaine opened the safe in the study.”
Laura pulled back. “How do you know?”
“I watched them.”
“Did you see Christine give Emma anything?”
Rosa’s eyes filled with fear. “I saw her carry a red glass bottle twice. When I asked, she said vitamins.”
Before Laura could ask more, Ethan approached. Rosa stepped away.
“Dana wants to see us,” he said.
The investigator had received Emma’s outpatient records from Dr. Mercer. They contained three notes documenting Laura’s alleged confusion about dosages and one warning that she might be overmedicating Emma.
Laura had never seen those notes.
“He fabricated them,” she said.
Ethan lowered his head as if wounded. “This is what I was afraid of.”
Dana’s face remained neutral. “Until we identify the source of the sedative, Emma will be placed under temporary hospital supervision.”
Laura felt the words as a physical tear.
“You’re taking her from me?”
“We’re protecting her while we investigate.”
Ethan put a hand on Laura’s shoulder for the benefit of everyone watching. She recoiled.
Vera appeared in the doorway holding a black folder.
“Ethan,” she said, pretending reluctance, “the attorney said she needs to sign tonight.”
Inside the folder was a temporary custody agreement granting Ethan sole medical authority.
May you like
He placed a pen before Laura.
“Sign,” he whispered, “and I’ll make sure you can see Emma tomorrow.”
