Chapter 5 - Lily had been blamed before
The next morning, I sat beside Lily in the hospital cafeteria.
Noah was upstairs with a nurse and my sister.
I asked:
“When you said Vanessa always blames you, what did you mean?”
Lily picked at a blueberry muffin.
“Stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“Baby stuff.”
“Tell me.”
She looked afraid.
Not of Vanessa.
Of me.
“Are you going to get mad?”
“Probably. But not at you.”
That did not reassure her enough.
So I corrected myself.
“I will listen first.”
Better.
She told me.
Two months earlier:
Noah had a bruise on his arm.
Vanessa told me Lily had grabbed him too hard.
Lily denied it.
I believed Vanessa.
A month later:
Noah’s bottle was found tipped onto the nursery floor.
Vanessa said Lily had entered without permission.
Lily denied it.
Two weeks ago:
Noah cried in his playpen with a red mark near his shoulder.
Vanessa said Lily had thrown a toy.
Lily said:
“I didn’t.”
I remembered every incident.
Not because they seemed serious then.
Because I had handled each one badly.
I told Lily:
“You need to be more careful around your brother.”
She had looked hurt.
I interpreted that as guilt.
Now I asked:
“Did you do any of those things?”
“No.”
All three?
“No.”
May you like
I believed her.
Too late.
