Chapter 23 - Michael’s first month inside
Michael wrote to me through counsel.
Not Emily.
Please keep me informed if she has any medical complication.
Reasonable.
I agreed to quarterly summary or major event via attorneys as ordered.
Then he wrote:
I will not ask you to give her letters.
Good.
Then his treatment program began inside facility.
Family violence.
Decision-making.
Cognitive-behavioral work.
No guarantee.
No redemption certificate.
Then Emily’s bowel follow-up at three months.
Dr. Shah:
No infection.
No hernia.
Bowel function normal.
Scar sensitivity improving.
No dietary restriction beyond ordinary.
Risk of adhesions exists after abdominal surgery, but no current problem.
Could future obstruction occur?
Possible.
Not predicted.
Then Emily asked:
“Will this affect pregnancy someday?”
Dr. Shah answered carefully.
The specific bowel surgery was not expected to prevent future pregnancy.
Any abdominal surgery can complicate later operations, but no reason to assume infertility.
Emily turned red.
“Not that I’m having kids.”
Dr. Shah smiled.
“No schedule required.”
Normal.
Then therapist.
Nightmares decreased.
Still startled by yelling.
One day in grocery store a man shouted at cashier.
Emily froze.
We left cart.
Went outside.
No shame.
Then school yearbook meeting.
She laughed with Jenna.
First time I heard real laugh after trial.
I cried in car alone.
Then Kevin contacted me.
Michael wanted Kevin to return a box of Emily’s childhood things from his storage.
Why storage?
When house sold, Michael moved some items.
Box contained:
Soccer medals.
Old notebooks.
A stuffed bear.
No note.
Emily opened.
Found photograph of her and Michael at age eight after a soccer tournament.
She cried.
Then put it on shelf.
Not drawer.
That surprised me.
Loving a past version of someone is not forgiving current harm.
She understood before I did.
Then Carol asked whether Emily would speak to her.
Emily agreed to phone call.
No discussion of Michael unless Emily raised.
They talked about school.
Dog.
A recipe.
Normal relationship allowed to survive around damaged one.
May you like
This mattered.
No need to burn entire paternal family tree.
