Chapter 2 - THE FIRST LIE
At the hospital, they cut my red dress up the side.
I watched the fabric fall open and heard Ryan complaining about what it had cost.
That was how deeply he had gotten into my head.
I was on a hospital bed with a nurse fastening monitors around my stomach, and part of me was worried about ruining a dress.
“Baby’s heart rate is right here,” the nurse said.
A fast, steady rhythm filled the room.
I started crying so suddenly I couldn’t breathe.
Dad turned toward the wall. His shoulders moved once.
Then he faced me again.
“She’s making herself heard,” he said.
Dr. Patel examined me and explained that they would keep monitoring for contractions and signs of injury.
“Any bleeding?”
“No.”
“Pain?”
“Across here.”
She nodded and asked Dad to step outside.
He left immediately.
That surprised me.
Ryan never left a room just because someone asked.
Dr. Patel pulled up a stool.
“Did your husband push you?”
I stared at the blanket.
“You’re not in trouble,” she said. “I need to understand what happened so I can take care of you.”
“Yes.”
“Has he hurt you before?”
The answer sat behind my teeth.
The wrist he squeezed in the car. The doorway he blocked. The mug he threw close enough to cut my cheek with a broken piece.
“He’s never pushed me down stairs.”
She waited.
“Yes,” I said finally. “He’s hurt me before.”
She asked whether he could access my phone, accounts, or location. I said yes to all three.
A hospital social worker came in. So did a police officer named Elena Ortiz.
Officer Ortiz asked me to tell the story from the beginning.
“Not the beginning of your marriage,” she said gently. “Just tonight. We can take the rest one piece at a time.”
I told her Ryan had followed me outside after an argument.
“What was the argument about?”
I glanced toward my purse.
“There’s a recording on my phone.”
“Of what?”
Before I could answer, a hard voice came from the hallway.
“I’m her husband. You don’t get to keep me from her.”
Ryan.
My whole body tightened.
Officer Ortiz noticed.
She stood, opened the door a few inches, and spoke to someone outside. Then she shut it again.
“He won’t be coming in.”
A moment later, Dad returned with my purse.
“Security gave me this.”
I took out my phone.
The screen was cracked.
There were fourteen missed calls from Ryan.
May you like
Under them was a text.
Tell them you slipped, Claire. Think about what happens to your father if you don’t.
