Chapter 10 - Noah Asked Whether Vanessa Wanted Him Dead
The question came during therapy two weeks later.
Noah was physically recovering well.
Emotionally, he had nightmares.
He avoided upstairs railings.
He asked Daniel to carry him through the gallery even though the area was now closed.
His therapist, Dr. Helen Morris, worked slowly.
No pressure.
No repeated retelling.
One afternoon Noah asked:
“Did Vanessa want me dead?”
Daniel was present.
He felt every muscle in his body tighten.
Helen looked toward him but let him answer.
“We don’t know exactly what she thought would happen.”
Noah frowned.
“She threw me.”
“Yes.”
“People die when they fall.”
“Sometimes.”
“So did she?”
Daniel refused to lie.
“I don’t know.”
The evidence supported severe recklessness and deliberate violence. Vanessa’s shouted statement expressed a frightening motive. But pretending Daniel could know her exact expectation would not help Noah.
“What I do know,” he continued, “is that what she did was very dangerous and completely wrong.”
Noah stared at the carpet.
“Is it because she hates Mom?”
“Partly.”
“And because she likes you?”
Daniel’s throat tightened.
“Yes.”
Noah’s face twisted with confusion.
“But she’s your cousin.”
“I know.”
“That’s weird.”
For once Daniel welcomed a child’s uncomplicated judgment.
“Yes,” he said. “It is.”
Noah thought for another minute.
Then asked the harder question.
“Why did you let her come back?”
Daniel did not say because Aunt Patricia pressured me.
He did not say because Vanessa cried.
He did not say because adults sometimes make mistakes.
All true.
None sufficient.
“Because I wanted to believe she wasn’t as dangerous as your mom thought.”
Noah looked up.
“Mom was right?”
“Yes.”
“Are you mad at her?”
“At Mom?”
“No. Vanessa.”
Daniel almost said furious.
Instead:
“Yes. But my job now is to make sure you’re safe, not make my anger your problem.”
Helen gave him a small nod.
That distinction would matter in the months ahead.
Noah needed a father who protected him.
May you like
Not a father who made revenge another thing the child had to survive.
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