Chapter 6 - THERE WERE FOUR
Diane forced her way through the emergency-room curtain before Nurse Parker could stop her.
She wore a plain gray cardigan and carried the same black purse she brought to church every Sunday. Her voice remained cold and measured.
“She is confused. Claire has been unstable for weeks.”
Dr. Carter moved between her and the bed. “The patient specifically requested that you not enter.”
“This is my family.”
I took the pen and pressed so hard that it tore the paper.
NO. THIS IS WHAT YOU DID TO ME.
Diane’s eyes dropped toward the removed thread on the tray.
Her jaw tightened once.
Then she looked at Mark.
“Tell them,” she ordered. “Tell them how many times she screamed over nothing. Tell them you asked me to keep her quiet until you got home.”
Mark raised both hands.
“I never told you to use a needle.”
The room went still.
Not because the sentence cleared him.
Because it admitted there had been an agreement.
I took a fresh page.
DID YOU KNOW SHE HAD DONE THIS BEFORE?
Mark sat in the chair beside my bed but did not reach for me.
“I knew about the first time,” he said. “I thought she only tied thread around your mouth. I didn’t know she pushed it through.”
Diane laughed under her breath.
“You knew more than that.”
Dr. Carter asked Mark to step away from the bed.
I wrote again.
HOW MANY TIMES DID YOU KNOW ABOUT?
Mark looked at his mother, then at the tray, and finally at me.
His voice dropped.
“There were four.”
My hand went limp around the pen.
May you like
Four did not mean he discovered each incident afterward.
Four meant he had counted them.
