Chapter 3 - The Hospital That Couldn’t Lie
The doctor came in two hours later with a police officer.
She was a woman in her fifties with kind eyes and a tired voice. She sat on the edge of my bed and explained everything in clear, careful words.
Twelve weeks pregnant. Placental abruption caused by blunt force trauma. The baby had no heartbeat when they arrived. They had tried everything, but it was too late.
Then she looked at the officer and nodded.
The officer stepped forward.
“Mrs. Carter, we need to ask you some questions about what happened at your parents’ house.”
Ethan didn’t let go of my hand.
I told them everything.
I told them about Madison jabbing my stomach. I told them about her asking what would happen if she kicked it. I told them she shoved me and I hit my head on the coffee table. I told them my parents had done nothing while I bled on their floor.
The officer wrote everything down without interrupting.
When I finished, he closed his notebook.
“We’re treating this as a possible criminal investigation,” he said. “Assault on a pregnant woman resulting in fetal demise is a serious charge in Colorado.”
My mother’s voice suddenly came from the doorway.
“This is ridiculous. It was an accident. Madison was just playing around.”
I hadn’t even realized they were there.
My parents stood in the hallway like they had every right to be part of this conversation. Madison was nowhere in sight.
Ethan stood up slowly.
“Get out.”
My father actually laughed.
“Ethan, don’t be dramatic. This is a family matter—”
“No,” Ethan said, voice low and dangerous. “This stopped being a family matter the second your daughter kicked my pregnant wife in the stomach and you did nothing. Get out of this hospital before I have security remove you.”
My mother’s face crumpled into fake tears.
“Emily, honey, you know Madison didn’t mean it. She’s always been sensitive. You’re making this into something it’s not.”
I looked at her from the hospital bed, my head still wrapped in gauze.
“You stood over me while I was unconscious and told me to stop pretending,” I said. “You let me bleed on your floor. You protected her. Again.”
My mother opened her mouth, but no words came out.
The police officer cleared his throat.
“Mr. and Mrs. Carter, I suggest you leave. And I suggest you bring your other daughter in for questioning. Soon.”
They left without another word.
But I knew they wouldn’t stay quiet for long.
People like my parents never did.
They would spin their story.
They would paint me as dramatic and Madison as misunderstood.
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They had done it my entire life.
This time, I wasn’t going to let them.
