Chapter 2 - Her First Lie
I stepped between Victoria and the bed.
“Stay where you are.”
She stared at me, genuinely offended.
“Excuse me?”
“The police are coming.”
Her eyes dropped to the phone again.
“You called the police before talking to your own wife?”
Emily flinched behind me.
Victoria noticed.
Her expression changed so quickly it frightened me more than her anger had.
“Oh, Emily,” she said softly. “What have you told him?”
“Don’t speak to her.”
“You don’t understand. She had some kind of episode. She was threatening to leave with the babies.”
Emily shook her head.
“I asked you to watch them.”
Victoria ignored her.
“I restrained her because she wouldn’t calm down.”
“And then strapped our newborns to her?”
“She was already holding them.”
I looked at the torn linen on the floor.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I expect you to remember who I am.”
That was the problem.
I was beginning to.
Sirens rose beyond the front windows.
Victoria moved toward the bed.
I blocked her.
“Don’t.”
For the first time, she seemed to understand that being my wife would not get her past me.
Two paramedics entered with a police officer. I moved aside, answered questions, and watched strangers treat Emily with more kindness than she had received in my house.
One paramedic crouched in front of her.
“My name’s Rachel. Can you tell me where you hurt?”
Emily tried to answer.
Instead, she asked about Noah.
“Which hospital?” Rachel said.
“Mercy Children’s.”
I called the number Emily gave me. A nurse confirmed Noah was alive but asked to speak directly to his mother.
I held the phone near Emily’s ear.
“Mommy’s coming,” she whispered. “Please tell him Mommy’s coming.”
Across the room, Victoria folded her arms.
“This is ridiculous.”
The officer looked at her.
“Ma’am, step into the hallway with me.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“Right now, I’m asking you to step outside this room.”
Victoria glanced at me.
“This will destroy us.”
“No,” I said. “You did that before I got home.”
As the paramedics helped Emily stand, she grabbed my sleeve with two trembling fingers.
“Your phone,” she whispered.
“What about it?”
“I called you first. Three times.”
I took it out.
No missed calls.
No messages.
Victoria stood in the hallway, watching my face.
And suddenly I remembered where I had left my phone during lunch.
May you like
On the kitchen counter.
Beside my wife.
