Chapter 4 - Victoria’s story
Victoria was removed from Boston Mercy that night.
Not convicted.
Removed.
Security escorted her to a waiting area.
Police later served the warrant for her briefcase and certain devices.
She was not thrown into prison before sunrise.
Her attorney, Paige Donnelly, issued a written statement the next afternoon.
Victoria denied harming Lily.
Her account:
Lily had become agitated.
Tried to pull her IV.
Victoria stepped onto the bed to keep the bag elevated and prevent line dislodgment.
She twisted the tubing only because it had looped.
The restraint marks?
Unknown.
The puncture marks?
Hospital procedures.
The syringe?
Not hers.
My shove?
Assault.
Her statement:
“The sicker you are, the more valuable you are to me.”
Misheard.
She claimed she had actually said:
“The sicker you are, the more valuable good records are to me.”
That made no grammatical sense.
Still.
No audio.
My word.
Then Lily.
Why afraid?
Victoria’s attorney suggested Lily was:
Confused.
Sedated.
Emotionally dependent on me.
Potentially reacting to our conflict.
I wanted to punch a wall.
I did not.
Then the first toxicology results.
No illicit street drugs.
No alcohol.
No obvious overdose of Lily’s prescribed medicines.
One screen showed a sedating medication class not expected from her active medication list.
Screening tests can produce false positives.
Confirmatory testing ordered.
No conclusion.
The syringe lab would take longer.
Then hospital medication administration record.
Everything given by Boston Mercy had barcode documentation.
Antiemetic.
IV fluids.
Antibiotic stopped earlier after cultures negative.
Acetaminophen.
Nothing matching the unexpected screening result.
Could something given before admission explain it?
Possibly.
Victoria maintained a home medication kit.
I authorized that.
Why?
Lily occasionally needed prescribed nausea medication and rescue migraine medication.
Victoria was not supposed to administer anything outside written plans.
Did she?
I did not know.
Then police found in Victoria’s briefcase:
The confidentiality agreement.
Lang Family Care invoices.
Draft care-plan proposal.
A notebook.
No smoking-gun confession.
No vial labeled:
Make Lily sick.
Then her phone.
Warranted extraction would take time.
Hospital social work called the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families.
Not because I was accused of intentionally harming Lily.
Because suspected caregiver abuse triggers child-protection response, and my own supervision decisions had to be reviewed.
That hurt.
DCF investigator Susan Bell asked:
“Why was Victoria alone overnight?”
“I was in Providence.”
“Why?”
“Work.”
“Did you know Lily had been admitted?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you return immediately?”
I looked down.
Victoria had said:
“Don’t blow up your closing. Lily is stable.”
I was working on a refinancing scheduled the next morning.
I planned to return at six.
Then Carmen called.
I said:
“I trusted Victoria.”
Susan answered:
“I understand.”
Not absolution.
Then:
“How many times has Victoria stayed alone with Lily during illness?”
I stopped counting after twelve.
Susan wrote.
Then:
“Did Lily ever tell you she was afraid of her?”
“No.”
That was true.
“Did she ever resist being left with her?”
I remembered three occasions.
Lily:
“Can I come with you?”
I said:
“You have school.”
Another:
“Can Grandma stay instead?”
I said:
“Victoria knows your medicines better.”
Another:
“Do you have to go?”
I said:
“It’s one night.”
My throat closed.
Susan did not say:
May you like
You should have known.
She did not need to.
