Chapter 4 - What the Hospital Confirmed
At the hospital, Drew tried not to cry during the X-rays.
That was the part Peter would remember forever.
Not the cast.
Not the white walls.
Not the smell of antiseptic.
The silence.
Drew pressed his lips together and stared at the ceiling like pain was something he had been taught not to inconvenience people with.
Lily slept curled against a blanket in the next room after eating slowly under a nurse’s careful watch.
Peter stayed where both children could see him.
“I’m right here,” he kept saying. “I’m not leaving.”
A doctor finally came out with a face that had gone beyond concern.
“Drew has a spiral fracture of the tibia,” he said quietly. “It appears to be at least two weeks old.”
Peter gripped the edge of a chair.
“Two weeks?”
“Yes. Untreated.”
The doctor lowered his voice.
“Lily is significantly underweight and dehydrated. We’re documenting everything. Child Protective Services is already on the way.”
For a second, Peter thought he might be sick.
Then he looked through the glass at Drew in the hospital bed, cast beginning to set around his leg, one small hand resting protectively near Lily’s blanket.
Something inside Peter settled.
Not peace.
Decision.
When Drew woke later, he looked at Peter with red-rimmed eyes.
“Are you mad at me?”
Peter nearly broke.
“No. Why would I be mad?”
“For leaving,” Drew whispered. “Reena said if we told, they’d take Lily away. She said Dad would be ashamed.”
Peter moved carefully to the edge of the bed and took the boy’s hand.
“Your dad would be proud of you.”
Drew’s face crumpled.
“You saved your sister,” Peter said. “You were brave. You were smart. And I should have come sooner.”
Drew cried then.
Deep, exhausted sobs.
May you like
Peter held him as gently as he could.
“I’ve got you now,” he whispered. “Both of you.”
