Chapter 3

For the next six weeks, I cared for my daughter, investigated how she'd been hurt, gathered evidence, and prepared the divorce paperwork.

Ethan paid what insurance didn't cover, but he never came to see her after that. I assumed Vivian had him wrapped around her finger again. And then one day he had a huge gift box delivered.

Inside was a toy that required two hands. You had to hold one side down to turn the other.

Disgust rose in me. I put the box away, went to the door, and called him.

"How could you care so little about your own daughter! Sending her a toy like that is humiliating!"

"Claire, you need to see a therapist. You haven't been yourself lately. Vivian and I picked it out together. It's the doll every little girl wants right now. Don't let your emotions blind you to people's good intentions." Ethan sighed into the phone. "Once Lily has recovered a little more, you won't react so strongly to everything. We'll put the divorce on hold for now."

What doll! The gift wasn't a doll at all!

I started to answer, then pictured his expression whenever he defended Vivian. I didn't want to say another word.

He wasn't going to believe me anyway.

That night I confirmed the admission date at an independent inpatient rehabilitation center and stayed with Lily while she practiced steering her wheelchair.

The day she was discharged, the facility said they could take her the following morning, so I brought my daughter home to stay one night and collect our documents, clothes, and all her care supplies.

The car stopped in front of the house and she looked up at it for a long moment before she spoke quietly. "Mom, I'm sleeping downstairs, aren't I?"

"Of course."

I'd already arranged to have the downstairs guest room cleared, leaving enough space for her wheelchair to turn. But when I opened the door, a gaming screen glowed, Owen's blocks were all over the floor, and a new gaming chair stood exactly where the hospital bed was supposed to be.

My hands tightened on the wheelchair handles, and I stopped.

"Where are Lily's things?"

Ethan came out of the kitchen and said they had been moved up to the storage room. "Vivian's wrist still needs rest. It's easier to look after her here, and the two children have each other for company."

Vivian came over in slippers, wearing the shawl I'd left in the main bedroom. She stroked Owen's head and said with a smile that he had settled in so well he was sleeping right through the night.

I looked back at my husband.

"And Lily? How does she get upstairs?"

"What's the big deal? We can afford to put in a wheelchair lift. Don't argue with your sister over a guest room." My mother came out with an armful of Owen's clothes.

"Owen will want friends over. The room has to look decent. Lily can't go out for now anyway. Wouldn't she rest better upstairs, where it's quiet?"

She glanced at the wheelchair, her voice impatient. "The whole family can't be expected to work around her just because she has trouble getting around."

Lily pulled her left hand under the blanket and curled in on herself.

"She needs her dressings changed at night and she needs the bathroom. Who's going to carry her up and down? You?"

My mother frowned. "Is that any way to talk to your mother?"

Owen came running out with the bear and dropped into the gaming chair. I had brought that bear home to be washed before Lily was discharged. Lily lifted her head when she recognized the small white coat she'd sewn.

"That's mine."

"Mom gave it to me." Owen put it behind his back. "You won't be needing it anymore."

Vivian put a hand out in front of her son.

"He just likes it. Lily has piles of toys at home. Let him borrow it for a few days."

Lily didn't grab for it. She turned to me.

"Mom, can I have it back?"

I walked over and held my hand out to Owen.

"Give it back to her."

He looked to Ethan for help, but I spoke before Ethan could answer. "Lily sewed that coat herself. Owen, if you want a toy, have your mom buy you a new one."

I took the bear back and gently put it in Lily's arms. With her left hand, she slowly smoothed the curled hem of its coat. Then she lowered her head and wouldn't look at anyone in the house.

I called the facility to ask whether she could be admitted early. The earliest they could take her was the next morning.

The hospital bed had been pushed against the dining room wall and piled with Owen's presents. I moved the boxes off, pulled the bed into the living room, made it up, and had her lie down. I would sit with her that night and we would go at first light.

I was straightening her pillow when Ethan came over to rub my shoulders. I moved out of reach.

"I came back for our things. That's all."

He saw the suitcase in the entryway and his hand dropped.

"Tomorrow is Owen's birthday. Stay at least until we've cut his birthday cake."

I didn't agree to it. I checked the transport booking on my phone and read the time out to Lily. "Tomorrow morning a car is coming to the door for us."