Chapter 2

Lily woke while I was sitting by the bed, straightening the clothes on her stuffed bear.

Her left hand moved under the blanket, felt the thick layers of bandages, then reached toward where her left lower leg should have been. She froze. A long moment passed before she spoke, her voice hesitant. "Mom, where's my foot?"

I moved closer to the bed and explained it a little at a time, using the words the doctors had suggested.

Lily was quiet for a moment, looking down at her empty right sleeve, then at the bear in my hands.

"Can I still sew new clothes for the bear?"

"We can learn other ways to do it. Whatever you want to do, I'll try it with you."

"Can I still be a doctor like Daddy?"

I held her cold left hand and ran my thumb over an old scratch on the back of it. A month earlier, Lily had stayed up late making a little white coat for that bear with a children's sewing kit. Once she learned to tie a knot, she insisted on waiting up to show her father. Her eyes kept closing, but she kept telling me not to put the needles and thread away.

Ethan came home that night long after dark. Lily was asleep. I took a photo of the small white coat and sent it to him. All I got back was, "I'll look tomorrow."

"Of course. Our Lily is going to be the kindest, most responsible doctor in the world." I pressed my forehead to hers. "Right now, let's rest and let you heal. When you're stronger, I'll be right there with you for whatever you want to do. All right?"

Ethan came into the room just as the nurse arrived to take care of Lily. Hearing footsteps, Lily lifted her head and reached her left hand out from under the blanket toward him.

"Daddy."

He touched her fingertips, glanced at the heavy bandaging, and quickly drew his hand back. Then he pulled up pictures of children's prosthetics on a tablet to show me.

"I've been in touch with the best team in the field. They're excellent at fitting children with prosthetics, and we can keep replacing and adjusting them as she grows."

Lily's hand fell back onto the blanket. I pushed the tablet away from me.

"She's calling you. Can't you sit with her for a while?"

He had barely pulled the chair out when his phone rang with Vivian's name on the screen. He took the call and moved to the doorway.

Vivian said Owen wouldn't eat and was insisting on seeing him.

"I'll go and look in on him." Then he turned back to me. "Read through that material in the meantime.

"Just ten minutes. I'll be back, I promise," he added with a slight frown.

Lily sounded small and hurt. "Daddy, Aunt Vivian pushed me out and I got hurt. Are you leaving me now to go and see her?"

He stopped where he was with the phone still at his ear.

"I was standing behind the stone post. Owen ran to the edge of the road and I wanted to call him back." She looked at her father. "When the car came, Aunt Vivian pulled him behind her. She took hold of my arm and pushed me out."

My hand stopped on the edge of the blanket.

Ethan ended the call, came back to the bed, and lowered his voice. "Lily, you were frightened. Don't think about any of that right now. When you're better, Daddy will take you home.

"Claire, let her rest." He looked at me.

I lifted my head.

"Didn't you hear what she just said?"

"Vivian was hurt too. She was protecting two children at once. Of course it was chaos."

"Lily says Vivian pushed her in front of the car!"

Lily flinched at the sound of my raised voice. I quickly gathered her into my arms and rubbed her back. Ethan reached for my shoulder, but I pushed his hand away.

"You haven't asked Lily a single question, and you've already decided my sister did nothing wrong. What gives you the right?"

His face finally darkened.

"That's enough. If you're angry with me, take it out on me. Don't teach our daughter to make up lies like that. That's no way to raise her! David entrusted Vivian and Owen to me. I can't walk away from them."

Lily pressed into me, and her voice was barely audible. "Mom, I didn't lie..."

"I know." I wiped the tears from her face and looked at him. "You can go on believing my sister. Don't call our daughter a liar in front of me again."

"Do you have to take it this far?"

"I'm going to find out how she was hit. There are cameras there. I'll have the police check the footage."

Just then my mother, Margaret Bennett, came through the door in time to hear all of it. She threw her handbag onto a chair and demanded to know whether I meant to turn my own sister in to the police. "Your sister's husband is dead and she was frightened and hurt as well. How much further do you intend to push her?"

"Mom, Lily's hand and her foot are gone. Look at her!"

"Hasn't Ethan promised to take care of all of her treatment? Why are you always the only one who feels so terribly wronged?"

The tears I'd held back all night finally spilled over. I looked at my mother, my eyes burning.

"Look down at your granddaughter. She asked me a few minutes ago where her foot went. What am I supposed to tell her?"

My mother raised her hand and slapped me hard across the face.

The sound carried through the room. My cheek burned and my head rang. I immediately turned to shield Lily, putting myself between her and my mother.

My mother tried to come closer again, but Ethan grabbed my wrist and held me in place.

"Stop it. Do you have to make a scene in front of everyone?"

I looked down at his hand clamped around my wrist. My throat tightened painfully. I couldn't make a sound.

"Mom!" Lily was struggling to sit up, the mattress cover bunched under her. "Don't hit my mom!"

I got free of him, pressed the call button, and turned back to hold her. When the nurse came, Lily was still crying and asking whether Grandma was going to hit me again.

The nurse called security, who kept my mother back. I pointed at the mark on my face, said she had hit me and frightened the child, and asked them to take her out. She was still arguing that this was a family matter when the nurse closed the door.

Ethan stood by the door, livid.

"Do you have to make everyone pay for this?"

My cheek was still stinging. Lily stayed pressed against me with her fist clutching my collar and wouldn't let go. I rubbed her back until her crying eased, and then I looked at him.

"I'm taking Lily and moving out. Ethan, I want a divorce."