Chapter 2: What Lily Wrote Down
The room went silent.
Julian's face drained of color.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then said, "Lily, that is enough."
"Let her speak," Dr.
Vance said.
His voice was quiet, but there was nothing soft about it.
Lily didn't look away from her father.
"You said it was vitamins.
You said Grandma was helping."
I held Toby tighter against my chest.
My legs felt like they might give out.
Dr.
Vance turned to the nurse.
"Call the charge nurse.
Now."
Julian grabbed my arm.
"You need to stop this before it goes somewhere you can't take back."
I pulled free.
"Don't touch me."
Evelyn stepped between us.
"This family does not need strangers involved.
We can handle this at home."
"There is no handling this at home," Dr.
Vance said.
He set down his pen and looked directly at Julian.
"Your infant son has a fever of 104 and has not received his prescribed medication for at least three nights.
That is not a family disagreement."
Julian's jaw tightened.
"She's been unstable since the birth.
Ask anyone."
"I'm asking you," Dr.
Vance said.
"Did you know?"
Julian said nothing.
Then Lily reached into the front pocket of her school jacket and pulled out her small pink notebook.
"I wrote down the dates," she said quietly.
"And I drew pictures."
Evelyn's hand flew to her mouth.
May you like
What Lily had written in that notebook made Dr.
Vance pick up the phone immediately — and what he said next, Julian never saw coming.
