“You watched me bury an empty coffin, didn’t you?”
His silence answered me.
Principal Harris quietly reached for his phone.
Neil noticed.
“Don’t call anyone yet.”
That sentence made everything worse.
I grabbed Grace’s hand.
“We’re leaving.”
Neil followed us into the parking lot.
“Laura, listen to me.”
I opened the passenger door for Grace.
“You have ten seconds.”
His eyes filled with tears.
“She was very sick.”
“I know.”
“She wasn’t recovering normally.”
My stomach turned cold.
“What does that mean?”
“She had neurological damage. She needed therapy. Special care. Constant supervision.”
I stared at him.
“So?”
“You weren’t coping.”
“You decided that?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
I laughed once.
It sounded almost cruel.
“Protect me from my living daughter?”
Grace began crying inside the car.
Neil lowered his voice.
“She might never have been the same.”
I slapped him.
Then I drove away.
