Chapter 3 - THE RECOVERY LOG
Carla visited the house the next morning.
She interviewed Daniel separately.
Then Emma.
No coaching.
No interruptions.
Emma described:
the cane,
the hair pull,
the exercises,
Rachel calling her lazy.
Then Carla asked:
“Did your dad ever tell you not to do therapy?”
“No.”
“Did he ever say Rachel was hurting you before yesterday?”
Emma looked down.
“No.”
“Why not?”
Emma whispered:
“I thought he’d be mad at me.”
That broke Daniel later.
Not because Emma feared him.
Because she thought causing marital conflict would be her fault.
Then Carla asked about the refrigerator chart.
Emma showed her.
Thirty-six days of entries.
Pain score:
mostly 2 or 3.
Exercise compliance:
95%.
Medication:
on schedule.
Mood:
frequently marked “defiant.”
Carla frowned.
“Who filled this out?”
“Rachel.”
Then Emma pointed.
“That one’s wrong.”
Which?
Day 18.
“Rachel wrote I did all the exercises.”
“Didn’t you?”
Emma shook her head.
“I was at Grandma’s.”
Daniel checked his calendar.
True.
Emma had spent the entire afternoon with Daniel’s mother.
Then another.
Day 24:
full home-rehab session.
Daniel had taken Emma to a school meeting that morning.
The chart was not just strict.
Parts were false.
Why would Rachel fabricate perfect compliance in some places while calling Emma defiant in others?
The answer appeared at the bottom.
SERVICE PROVIDER:
Reed Family Recovery Coordination.
Daniel stared.
“What is that?”
Emma shrugged.
May you like
Carla took a photo.
Daniel had never heard the company name in his own house.
