Chapter 2 - THE PEDIATRICIAN
Sophie was not severely malnourished.
That mattered.
Her pediatrician found:
mild dehydration,
low intake that day,
small facial redness,
no serious injury.
Weight had dropped slightly across two visits.
Not enough to diagnose failure to thrive.
Enough to ask questions.
Hannah had noticed Sophie eating ravenously after days with Diane.
She thought:
growth spurt.
Then:
daycare appetite.
Then:
toddler unpredictability.
Now she replayed everything.
Diane babysat twice a week.
She often said:
“She eats too much.”
Or:
“Girls don’t need to be chunky.”
Hannah hated those comments.
But she never imagined deliberate food restriction.
Ethan sat beside her in the pediatric office.
“I should’ve seen it.”
Hannah looked at him.
“So should I.”
The doctor asked:
How long?
How often?
What foods?
No one knew yet.
A mandatory report followed because physical discipline and possible food withholding had been disclosed.
Diane immediately hired attorney Lauren Pierce.
Lauren’s first statement:
Mrs. Collins denies starving Sophie.
She acknowledges enforcing a scheduled-meal routine and making an inappropriate comment under stress.
She denies intentionally depriving the child of adequate nutrition.
Smart.
Then she added:
Hannah struck Diane in anger.
May you like
True.
No one was getting a clean story.
