Chapter 3 - OFFICER MORALESThe officer was named Dana Morales.
She did not begin by asking Patricia anything.
She looked at me.
“Ma’am, are you safe right now?”
I looked at Daniel.
He was blocking his mother.
“Yes.”
“Is the baby receiving medical care?”
“Yes.”
“Do you need medical attention yourself?”
“I don’t know.”
I touched my cheek.
Morales saw the redness.
“Were you struck in the face?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
I pointed.
“My mother-in-law.”
Patricia said:
“That is not what happened.”
Morales turned.
“Ma’am, please do not interrupt.”
Patricia inhaled sharply.
Nobody spoke to Patricia that way in our family.
That realization is embarrassing now.
Morales moved us into separate areas.
Hospital security arrived.
Patricia was escorted to a consultation room.
Daniel remained with me only after Morales asked whether I wanted him there.
I did.
At that moment I still saw Daniel as another victim of his mother’s behavior.
That would become more complicated.
Morales asked:
“Tell me what happened from the beginning.”
I started with Patricia arriving that afternoon.
Morales stopped me gently.
“Before we do that, I want to document your injuries.”
A hospital nurse photographed my cheek.
There was visible redness and swelling along the left side.
A small split inside my lower lip.
No fracture.
No serious injury.
My physical injury would resolve quickly.
Lily’s was different.
Then Morales asked me to explain.
I spoke slowly.
Patricia arrived around four.
She had already been angry about the baby’s name.
She wanted to hold Lily.
I asked her to wash her hands.
She rolled her eyes.
I insisted.
She washed them.
She held Lily for perhaps fifteen minutes.
Then she started criticizing breastfeeding.
Then my robe.
Then the hospital.
Then my mother.
Then the name Claire.
“She’s a Carter,” Patricia said.
“She can also be named after my mother.”
“Daniel’s grandmother was Eleanor.”
“Yes.”
“You knew we expected Eleanor.”
“No. You expected Eleanor.”
That was the truth.
Daniel and I had never promised.
Patricia had decided expectation was agreement.
The argument grew.
I told Patricia I was tired.
Asked her to leave.
She refused.
I reached for the call button.
She took my wrist.
I pulled free.
She said:
“You have controlled every part of this since Daniel married you.”
I answered:
“This is my hospital room. Leave.”
Then she slapped me.
Hard.
I had Lily against my chest.
The blow turned my head.
My foot caught near the chair.
I stumbled.
Lily fell.
Morales asked:
“Did Patricia attempt to catch the baby?”
I closed my eyes.
“No.”
“Did she call for help?”
“No.”
“What did she do?”
“She told me to say I got dizzy.”
Daniel made a sound beside me.
I looked at him.
May you like
His face had changed.
He already knew more than he had told me.
Related Stories
