Chapter 15 - The Price of Silence
"It's for Emma's medical bills," Mom said through the screen door.
She wore the blue cardigan Emma had once loved. She must have chosen it deliberately.
"Then send it through my attorney," I replied.
"Don't be ridiculous. I'm her grandmother."
"A grandmother doesn't try to make a hospital say her granddaughter hurt herself."
Mom glanced toward the driveway. "I can help. I have savings. Enough to make this less painful."
"What do you want in return?"
She didn't answer immediately. Then: "Tell the prosecutor you believe Vanessa didn't mean it."
"You don't know what Vanessa meant."
"She's your sister."
"Emma is my daughter."
Mom pressed the envelope against the screen. "Think about what a prison sentence would do to Lily."
"I do. Every day. Lily deserves a safe mother. She doesn't deserve lies."
I closed the inner door without taking the money.
Tess found me afterward leaning against the wall. "You're shaking," she said.
"I wanted to take it. Emma has bills, Tess. Appointments. I don't know how long she'll be afraid of the sound of breakfast."
"Needing help doesn't mean you owe anyone your silence."
Together we called the hospital billing office and asked about payment options and financial assistance. It wasn't glamorous. It was paperwork, but it let me breathe.
That evening Miles sent me a photograph of Lily's school project: a paper house with two purple windows and a bright red door. He said she had drawn Emma in the garden, waving.
"She misses her cousin," he told me.
"Emma misses her."
"When it's safe and the girls are ready, maybe we can arrange a visit. No pressure."
May you like
I smiled for the first time that day.
Then Brooks called with news from the prosecutor's office. Vanessa's attorney wanted to discuss a guilty plea before Lily might be asked to testify.
