PART 14 – Patricia Had Been Quick to Question My Parenting, but Nobody Had Yet Established What Happened Before Lily Became Sick

The hospital corridors seemed endless that night.

I had walked through them so many times that I recognized certain doors and the sound of the medical equipment.

But nothing felt familiar anymore.

Everything had changed.

I kept thinking about the difference between what I knew and what other people were assuming.

I knew Lily had been in pain.

I knew I had taken her to the emergency department.

I knew the doctors had found thirty-six magnets.

I knew the surgeon had removed damaged intestine.

Those were facts.

What I didn't know was who had caused the injury.

That was the question the investigation needed to answer.

Daniel approached me again.

"Have you told the officers everything about what Lily does during the day?"

I looked at him.

"I've answered their questions."

He frowned.

"I'm just asking."

"I know."

I didn't want to argue.

I was willing to explain Lily's routine.

I was willing to answer anything that could help.

But I wasn't going to keep repeating that I had no knowledge of the magnets.

I didn't know where they came from.

I didn't know how she had swallowed them.

And I didn't know who had been responsible.

Patricia spoke from beside him.

"You know how quickly children can get into things."

I looked at her.

"Yes. I know."

She continued looking at me.

I waited for her to say something else.

She didn't.

I wondered whether she understood that the doctors had found thirty-six magnets, not one small object that a child might accidentally pick up.

I wondered whether she had thought about the danger.

I wondered whether she was frightened for Lily.

I couldn't answer those questions.

I only knew what she had said earlier.

She had blamed my online activities.

She had criticized my attention to Lily.

And she had done it before anyone had established how the magnets entered her body.

I looked away.

I didn't want to turn every sentence into another confrontation.

There was something more important happening.

The officers had the information about the security camera.

I wanted the recording reviewed.

The dining room had been part of our everyday life.

Lily had spent time there.

The camera covered that space.

It was a place where events could have been recorded without anyone needing to remember them.

I couldn't stop thinking about that.

I remembered the table.

I remembered the chairs.

I remembered how ordinary the room looked.

Now I couldn't think about it without wondering what the recording might contain.

I didn't know whether it would show something directly related to the magnets.

I didn't know whether it would reveal who had been near Lily.

I didn't want to make promises about what it could prove.

I simply wanted it examined.

I asked Officer Bennett whether he needed anything else from me.

He continued gathering information.

I answered what I could.

There were no dramatic speeches.

No new explanation appeared.

Only questions.

And my answers.

I looked at Daniel once more.

He seemed to be waiting for me to say something that would satisfy him.

I had nothing new to offer.

I had told the truth from the beginning.

I couldn't manufacture an explanation just because he wanted one.

I finally sat down.

My body was exhausted.

My thoughts were not.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds.

Then I opened them again.

I was still waiting for news about my daughter.

Click here to continue reading: PART 15: I Remembered the Night in Small Pieces, and Every Time I Reached the Dining Room in My Memory, I Thought About the Camera