Chapter 3 - The Hospital Light
By midnight, Lily had been admitted for observation at a children's hospital in New Haven. The doctors were assessing her hydration, alertness, and possible exposure to a sedating substance. Tests would take time, and nobody promised Ethan a quick answer.
I sat outside the room with my sleeve stained from where Lily had been sick on the ambulance blanket. I should have gone home, but I couldn't stop seeing her hands on the banister.
Ethan came out, his tie hanging loose. "She asked for you," he said.
Inside, Lily lay beneath a white blanket. She looked small against the hospital bed, but her eyes followed me.
"Hi, Peanut," I said, using the nickname I'd given her when she helped shell peas in Rosa's kitchen. "You're safe here."
Lily swallowed. "Did I do something bad?"
"No. You did something brave."
"She said you would get fired if I talked."
My throat tightened. "That wasn't your job to worry about."
A pediatric specialist, Dr. Priya Sethi, joined us. She explained that Lily's silence after her parents died might have been a response to trauma, but her recent sleepiness and physical decline required their own investigation. No one should have assumed every symptom was grief.
"Was she prescribed anything?" Dr. Sethi asked.
Ethan shook his head. "Vivienne arranged a private wellness consultant. She said the sessions were helping Lily sleep."
"Do you have the consultant's name?"
He searched his phone. There was an invoice with a company name, but no physician's order. He forwarded it to the hospital social worker, who said child-protection staff would be involved.
I told them about my notebook. Every evening for seven weeks I'd recorded the times Lily became groggy, the missed breakfasts, and her requests to sleep in the kitchen where I worked. I'd planned to speak to Ethan the previous week, but Vivienne had called me dramatic and threatened to replace me.
Ethan looked at me. "Why didn't you come to me anyway?"
"I tried," I said. "Your assistant said you were overseas and Vivienne handled Lily's care. I should have tried harder."
Lily squeezed my fingers. "Grace tried to keep the cup away yesterday too."
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Then she looked toward Ethan, tears gathering.
"Uncle Ethan," she whispered, "I know why she didn't want me to talk."
