There it was.
The sentence she had been building toward from the moment she entered the hospital.
I looked at her, unable to recognize the woman who had once called me whenever she needed help.
“You knew,” I said.
Kate frowned.
“Knew what?”
“You knew something was wrong before you left.”
Her eyes hardened.
“You’re making things up because you’re scared.”
“No.”
I pulled out my phone again.
“I’m scared because your daughter has a broken leg. I’m angry because you’re trying to make me responsible for it.”
The investigator held out her hand.
“Give me the phone.”
I handed it over.
She opened the message thread.
Paige is hurt. I’m at the hospital. Get here now.
Read.
Then my second message.
The doctors found a serious injury. You need to come immediately.
Read.
The investigator looked at Kate.
“You received these while your daughter was being evaluated?”
“Yes.”
“And you did not respond?”
“I panicked.”
“For how long?”
Kate said nothing.
The investigator checked the timestamps.
“Long enough to receive two messages, read both, and still not call your sister or the hospital.”
Kate’s voice became defensive.
“I was trying to think.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know.”
The doctor quietly interrupted.
“Ms. Kate, your daughter needs you to cooperate with us.”
Kate looked toward the trauma room.
For the first time, tears appeared in her eyes.
But she still didn’t move toward the door.
The investigator noticed that too.
“Who else knew Paige was injured?” she asked.
Kate shook her head.
“No one.”
“Think carefully.”
“I said no one.”
The investigator closed the folder.
“We will be speaking to your husband.”
Kate’s face changed instantly.
That reaction was different.
It wasn’t fear for Paige.
It was fear of what someone else might say.
I noticed it before the investigator did.
“Where is your husband?” I asked.
Kate looked at me.
“He’s shopping.”
“You came here alone?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t he come with you?”
“He had something to finish.”
The investigator studied her.
“What was his name again?”
Kate answered.
The investigator wrote it down.
Then her phone rang.
She stepped away to answer it.
I stood beside Kate in silence.
Neither of us looked at the other.
A minute later, the investigator returned.
“We need your husband’s location.”
Kate’s face went blank.
