Chapter 2 - Lauren Had Lied From the Hospital Bed
Two nights earlier, my daughter Lauren had called me at 1:17 in the morning.
She was twenty-seven.
Independent.
Sharp.
The kind of daughter who usually called because she wanted to argue about whether I was eating enough vegetables, not because she needed rescuing.
Her voice sounded different.
“Dad?”
I sat upright immediately.
“Where are you?”
“Evergreen Medical.”
My stomach dropped.
When I arrived, she had bruising along one side of her face, a badly sprained wrist, and two cracked ribs.
Nothing life-threatening.
Enough to put her in the emergency room.
I asked what happened.
She said:
“I fell.”
I stared at her.
“From what?”
“The stairs.”
Lauren had inherited one irritating thing from me.
She was a terrible liar when frightened.
“Did Dustin do this?”
“No.”
Too fast.
“Lauren.”
“Dad, please.”
That stopped me.
Not because I believed her.
Because she was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t.
So I sat down.
I did not demand another answer.
For almost twenty minutes, neither of us spoke.
Then she whispered:
“If I tell you something, you can’t go crazy.”
I looked at my daughter lying in that hospital bed.
“I can promise I’ll listen.”
She turned toward the window.
Then said:
“Dustin got angry.”
May you like
That was the beginning.
---
Related Stories
