PART6

I tried to speak, but the words came out as a sob.

“Margaret, I need your help.”

Her voice changed immediately.

“What happened?”

I told her about Lily.

I told her about the hospital.

And I told her what Patricia had done.

For several seconds, Margaret said nothing.

Then I heard her take a shaky breath.

“Oh, Emily.”

“What do you know about her?” I whispered. “What happened between you two?”

Margaret was silent again.

When she finally spoke, her voice was low and trembling.

“I hoped I would never have to tell you this.”

My heart began to pound.

“Tell me what?”

“Patricia has done something like this before.”

I gripped the phone so tightly that my fingers hurt.

“What do you mean?”

“Not to your baby,” Margaret said quickly. “But years ago, she hurt someone in our family, and everyone agreed to keep quiet because we thought protecting the family was more important than telling the truth.”

I closed my eyes.

“Who?”

Margaret took another breath.

“Daniel’s younger sister, Rebecca.”

I had heard Rebecca’s name only a handful of times during my marriage.

Daniel always said his sister had moved away after a family disagreement. He rarely discussed her, and Patricia became furious whenever anyone mentioned her.

I had assumed they had simply grown apart.

“What happened to Rebecca?”

“She was seventeen when she told us she wanted to move out and live with our grandmother while she finished school. Patricia refused. They argued, and Rebecca ended up in the hospital.”

My entire body went cold.

“Why?”

“Patricia said Rebecca had fallen down the stairs. That was the explanation everyone accepted. But Rebecca told me something different before she left.”

“What did she tell you?”

Margaret’s voice broke.

“She said Patricia had shoved her during an argument.”

I covered my mouth.

“Did Daniel know?”

“Yes,” Margaret replied. “He was there that night.”

The hallway seemed to tilt around me.

Daniel had been there.

He had seen something happen to his own sister.

And he had never told me.

“Why didn’t anyone report it?” I asked.

“Because Patricia threatened to disown Daniel if he supported Rebecca. She told everyone that reporting her would destroy the family. Your father-in-law had already died by then, and we were all frightened of what would happen if the police became involved.”

“But Rebecca was a child.”

“I know.”

“Did she recover?”

“Yes. Physically, she recovered. But she never came back to live with Patricia. She moved away, changed her phone number, and slowly stopped contacting most of us.”

I wiped my face.

“Do you know where she is now?”

“I have an old email address. I don’t know if it still works.”

“Margaret, please send it to me.”

“I will.”

Then she said something that made my blood run cold.

“Emily, there’s one more thing you need to know.”

I waited.

“Daniel wasn’t just a witness to what happened to Rebecca. He was the one who convinced her not to tell the police.”

I couldn’t breathe.

Margaret continued, her voice thick with regret.

“He told his sister that if she reported their mother, their family would never recover. He said their mother had made a mistake and deserved another chance. Rebecca believed him because he was her big brother.”

I stared at the wall.

Suddenly, Daniel’s words in the hallway made sense in the most terrible way.

If she goes to prison, I’ll lose her.

He had said those words before, hadn’t he?

Maybe not to me.

Maybe to Rebecca.

Maybe every time someone in his family was hurt, Daniel had chosen the same side.

His mother’s.

Not because he didn’t understand what she was doing.

But because he had learned that protecting her was easier than confronting her.

I ended the call after thanking Margaret, then sat in silence for several minutes.

I wanted to scream.

I wanted to demand answers from Daniel.

But I couldn’t leave Lily.

Not now.

A nurse came through the doors and approached me.

“Mrs. Miller?”

I jumped to my feet.

“Yes?”

“Dr. Blake would like to speak with you.”

My heart stopped.

“Is Lily—?”

“She is still with us,” the nurse said quickly. “Please come with me.”

I followed her into a consultation room where Dr. Blake was reviewing a chart.

He looked tired, but his expression was calmer than before.

“Your daughter remains in critical condition,” he explained. “We have been able to stabilize her circulation, and we’re continuing to monitor the pressure in her brain. We still need time before we can make any reliable predictions about her recovery.”

I nodded, fighting to remain composed.

“Can I see her again?”

“Yes, for a few minutes.”

I started toward the door, but he gently stopped me.

“Emily, I also want you to know that the hospital has documented the injuries and the history you’ve reported. Our team will continue to focus on Lily’s medical needs. If you have any additional information about how she was injured, please share it with the appropriate staff.”

“I will.”

He studied me for a moment.

“Do you have somewhere safe to stay if you’re unable to return home tonight?”

I thought of Patricia’s key.

I thought of Daniel’s silence.

I thought of the nursery I had prepared with such love, the little clothes folded in drawers, and the blanket my mother had knitted before Lily was born.

Home had always meant safety to me.

But I could no longer pretend that our house was safe.

“No,” I admitted. “Not yet.”

“We can ask our social worker to speak with you about temporary support and safety planning.”

“Thank you.”

When I returned to Lily’s bedside, I held her tiny hand and whispered that I was there.

I told her about the pink blanket waiting in her crib.

I told her about the little garden I wanted to plant when she was older.

I told her that someday, when she could understand my words, I would explain how much she had been loved from the very first moment I saw her.

And I promised her one more thing.

I would never again confuse keeping a family together with keeping the truth buried.

Outside the intensive care unit, Daniel was still waiting.

Patricia sat beside him, her face composed again. She was speaking softly, her hand resting on his shoulder.

When I emerged, both of them looked up.

Daniel stood.

“Emily, we need to go home and talk.”

I stared at him.

“I’m not going home with your mother.”

“Then I’ll take you somewhere else.”

“And leave Lily here?”

“I didn’t mean—”

“Stop.”

He fell silent.

I walked closer to him, lowering my voice so Patricia couldn’t pretend I was trying to humiliate her.

“Your sister Rebecca. What happened to her?”

The color drained from his face.

For a moment, he looked as though someone had struck him.

“Who told you that name?”

“Your aunt.”

He glanced toward Patricia.

His mother immediately stood.

“Margaret has always been a troublemaker,” she snapped. “She enjoys destroying relationships.”

“That’s not what I asked,” I said.

Daniel looked at the floor.

“Emily, that happened years ago.”

“Did your mother push Rebecca down the stairs?”

CONTINUE FOR NEXT PART7…