Chapter 8: The Hospital Room
Emily's right hand was wrapped from the base of her fingers to mid-forearm in a pale blue cast.
She was sitting up in the hospital bed when her father came in, her hair still damp from where a nurse had helped her wash the mud out.
She had a cup of tea on the tray table that she hadn't touched.
Chief Carter sat down in the chair beside the bed.
He looked at the cast for a moment.
Then he looked at his daughter.
"How bad is the pain?"
"They gave me something.
It's okay."
He nodded.
He didn't say anything for a moment.
"Dad, don't."
"Don't what?"
"Make that face." She looked at him steadily.
"I'm all right."
"You have two broken bones in your hand."
"I know.
I was there." A small, exhausted attempt at a smile.
"I'm all right.
I promise."
He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and looked at the floor for a moment.
When he looked back up, something in his face had shifted — the authority was still there, but underneath it was something rawer.
"How long, Emily?"
She looked at her tea.
"I need you to tell me."
"Since September," she said quietly.
"But it was different at first.
Comments.
Stuff in the hallway.
I thought it would stop."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She was quiet for a moment.
"Because you would have made it worse."
He opened his mouth.
"Not on purpose," she said quickly.
"I know that.
But Dad — you're the Chief.
The moment you got involved, every kid in that school would have known.
And I just—" She stopped.
"I wanted to handle it.
I wanted it to be mine to handle."
He sat with that.
"I know," he said finally.
"I know that."
"Are you angry?"
"At you?
No." He shook his head.
"Not even close."
She looked at her cast.
"My piano teacher is going to be devastated."
"You'll play again.
The doctor said—"
"I know what the doctor said." She looked up.
"I'm not worried about that.
I'm worried about Mrs.
Alderton's face when I call her." A pause.
"She cried at my last recital.
Did I tell you that?"
"You told me."
"She sat in the front row and cried the whole last piece.
She thought I didn't see her." Emily almost smiled.
"I saw her."
They sat quietly for a moment.
Outside in the hallway, a cart rolled past.
Someone laughed at the nurses' station.
"Jason's father came to the scene," the Chief said.
Emily looked at him.
"He tried to make it go away."
"Did it work?"
"No."
She nodded slowly.
"Good."
"There's more to it.
I can't tell you all of it yet.
But I want you to know that what happened today — it's not going to be handled quietly.
It's going to go through the proper process.
All of it."
"Even Gerald Miller?"
The Chief went still.
"You know his name?"
"Jason talked about his dad constantly.
Every time he said something to me in the hallway, he'd add something like — my dad knows people, or my dad could make things difficult for yours." She looked at her father.
"I didn't know if it was real or just something he said."
"It was real," the Chief said.
"But it didn't work the way Gerald thought it would."
Emily looked at him for a long moment.
Then she reached out with her left hand and put it over his.
"Go finish it," she said.
"I'm okay here.
Aunt Ros is coming back with food.
Go do what you need to do."
He looked at her hand on his.
He turned his hand over and held hers.
"I'll be back tonight," he said.
"I know."
He stood, straightened his jacket, and moved toward the door.
He stopped with his hand on the frame.
"Emily.
I'm sorry I didn't know."
She looked at him steadily.
"You're here now."
He left.
May you like
In the hallway, he stood for a moment with his back against the wall, eyes closed.
Then he opened them, took out his phone, and kept moving.
