Chapter 2 - Daniel Brought Me the Phone Before Anyone Could Delete It
Rosie was examined that afternoon.
Her injuries were frightening to look at but not medically serious.
That mattered.
She was physically safe.
Emotionally, she would not let go of my shirt.
Every time someone moved too quickly near her, she buried her face against me.
While we waited for discharge instructions, Daniel appeared at the hospital.
Bethany’s husband.
He looked terrible.
He held a phone inside a clear plastic bag.
The same phone from the birthday table.
“I took it before your parents could.”
I stared at him.
“Why was it recording?”
Daniel swallowed.
“Bethany told me to record Rosie’s reaction.”
“To what?”
He looked away.
I stood.
“Daniel.”
“She called it a birthday prank.”
My grip tightened around the chair.
“What kind of prank leaves bruises?”
“I didn’t know she was going to do that.”
“You were sitting at the table.”
“I know.”
“Eating cake.”
His face collapsed.
“I know.”
He handed me the phone.
The video had started twenty-seven minutes before I found Rosie.
Not fifteen seconds.
Not after the violence.
Before.
Daniel had recorded nearly everything.
And according to him, this wasn’t the first time Bethany had asked somebody to film one of her “jokes” involving my daughter.
May you like
That sentence turned one terrible birthday into something much larger.
---
Related Stories
