Chapter 3 - DON’T ASK HER FOR ANYTHING
Gabriel stood close enough that Claire could see the red veins in his eyes.
“You think I’m the problem?”
“I think you’re one of twelve people standing around a terrified four-year-old waiting for her to perform.”
His jaw tightened.
Claire pointed toward the room.
“The doctor wants numbers to improve. The nurse wants her to swallow. You want her to talk. Everybody wants something.”
“And what do you want?”
“Right now?”
Claire took off her shoes.
“Nothing.”
Gabriel stared at her.
“What are you doing?”
“My feet hurt.”
Vincent Russo turned his face to hide a smile.
Claire walked into Lily’s room in stocking feet and sat on the carpet, far from the bed.
Then she pulled a paperback from her bag.
Gabriel waited.
Claire opened it.
He waited longer.
She began reading silently.
After five minutes, Gabriel whispered, “This is your method?”
Claire didn’t look up.
“No.”
“What is it?”
“Being quiet.”
His eyes hardened.
“My daughter doesn’t have time for—”
“She has had four days of adults trying everything.”
Claire finally looked up.
“Give me thirty minutes of nothing.”
Gabriel wanted to argue.
She could see it.
Instead, he walked out.
Claire stayed.
Ten minutes passed.
Lily never moved.
Twenty.
Still nothing.
Then Claire noticed her eyes.
The little girl was watching Claire turn pages.
Not directly.
Just tiny sideways glances.
Claire pretended not to see.
Thirty-five minutes passed.
Her back began to hurt.
Her leg fell asleep.
She shifted.
That was when she started humming.
It happened without thought.
An old tune her mother used to sing while making Sunday breakfast.
Soft.
Simple.
Almost forgotten.
Lily’s entire body stiffened.
Claire stopped.
The girl’s eyes snapped toward her.
Not empty anymore.
Terrified.
Claire’s heartbeat sped up.
“Okay,” she whispered. “No song.”
Lily’s lips parted.
Nothing came out.
Then—
“You know it.”
Claire froze.
Footsteps stopped in the hallway.
Gabriel appeared at the door.
Lily had spoken.
The first words in four days.
Claire kept her face calm.
“My mom sang it to me.”
Lily shook her head.
“No.”
Her little fingers clutched the blanket.
“She sang it.”
“Who?”
“The lady.”
Gabriel stepped inside.
“What lady?”
Lily recoiled instantly.
Claire held up one hand.
“Stay there.”
Gabriel stopped.
Nobody ordered Gabriel Varrick to stop.
Claire turned back.
“What lady, Lily?”
The child whispered, “The one from the car.”
Gabriel’s face changed.
Claire felt something cold travel down her spine.
“What car?”
“After Mommy got quiet.”
No one breathed.
Lily looked at Claire.
“She opened my door.”
Gabriel whispered, “That’s impossible.”
Lily’s voice grew smaller.
“She said Daddy sent her.”
Gabriel gripped the doorway.
Claire knew then they weren’t dealing only with trauma.
They were dealing with a memory someone had desperately hoped Lily would never recover.
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And Lily wasn’t finished.
“She took me to the man with the gold ring.”
