Chapter 4 - The Nights Nobody Counted
Julian had believed a household ran on trust: one adult remembered the grocery list, the other paid the bills, and both watched for whatever frightened their child.
Now he sat in a hospital conference room with a social worker named Ruth Ellis, answering questions about missed appointments and violence.
"I struck Meredith," he said.
"Twice. I told the officer."
Ruth wrote it down without softening her expression.
"What will you do if you feel that angry again?"
"Leave the room. Call for help. Keep Lena away from it."
"Those are words. What support will make them actions?"
"Whatever I need to arrange. Counseling. A safety plan. I'll do it."
Ruth did not praise him.
Julian was grateful for that.
Afterward, Lena showed him a page in her purple sketchbook.
Instead of flowers or superheroes, it held thirty small windows, each filled with a moon, a check mark, or a dark square.
"What's this?" he asked.
"My bad nights."
"What does the black mean?"
"I woke up scared and couldn't catch my breath."
"Why didn't you tell the doctor?"
"Meredith said the doctor would send me back to the hospital if I complained."
"Did you tell Meredith when it happened?"
"She told me to stop keeping track."
Julian turned a page and saw the words DON'T MAKE TROUBLE written in a child's uneven capitals.
"Did she say that to you?"
Lena nodded.
"She said good girls are grateful somebody takes care of them."
A knock sounded at the door.
Dr. Patel entered with a tablet.
"We've reviewed Lena's earlier records," she said.
"There's a timeline problem that may change what testing she needs."
She enlarged an old clinic note.
Lena had complained of unusual exhaustion weeks before the infection that everyone blamed for the start of her illness.
May you like
"The infection was real," Dr. Patel said.
"But it may not have been the beginning of the whole problem."
