Chapter 10 - The Doctor Who Never Signed
Dr. Sethi requested the alleged order. It bore the name of a doctor who had once consulted for a private clinic, but the clinic confirmed there was no active treatment relationship with Lily and no authorization matching the document.
"That doesn't tell us who made this paper," Dr. Sethi cautioned Ethan. "It does mean we can't rely on it as evidence of appropriate care."
The hospital preserved the record and notified the appropriate investigators. Ethan thanked the doctor, then walked out into the corridor and leaned against the wall.
"I signed checks for these people," he said. "I believed every invoice."
"You can help fix that," I told him. "Lily doesn't need you to punish yourself in front of her."
Lily came home two days later under a plan agreed on with her medical team and child-protection workers. Vivienne had moved out. Leo changed access permissions and arranged around-the-clock staff coverage without treating the house like a prison.
The first night Lily stood in the doorway of the kitchen while Rosa made soup. Her shoulders rose when a milk bottle appeared on the counter.
"Would you rather have water?" Rosa asked.
Lily nodded. Rosa put the bottle away. Nothing dramatic happened, which was exactly what Lily needed.
Later I helped her choose a story. She picked one she'd loved before the accident, a book about a fox who builds a bridge and then discovers the bridge works both ways.
"Grace," she asked, "will you be here tomorrow?"
"Yes. I'm on the morning schedule."
"And if you leave?"
"I'll tell you where I'm going and when I'm coming back."
She curled beneath the blanket, then sat up suddenly. "I remembered what the man in the green coat said."
I stayed still.
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"He told Vivienne, 'The old reports are still with the lawyer.'"
A lawyer outside Vivienne's reach. For the first time, I wondered whether Nora had already protected the records everyone was trying to find.
