Chapter 4
We reached the hospital in twenty minutes.
Michael drove.
I sat beside him, shaking with anger so hard my nails dug into my palms.
Emma stayed with our neighbor, Mrs. Lopez.
I did not want her anywhere near Diane.
The hospital lobby was bright, clean, and too calm for the storm waiting upstairs.
Andrew met us by the elevators.
His cheek was swollen.
Diane had slapped him too.
That fact made my anger sharpen.
Not because I wanted him hurt.
Because Diane’s violence had finally touched the son everyone thought she loved too much to damage.
“She’s on the fourth floor,” Andrew said. “Security won’t remove her because she keeps saying she’s family.”
“She is not Sophie’s family,” I snapped.
Andrew nodded.
“I know.”
Michael looked at his brother’s cheek.
“I’m sorry.”
Andrew shrugged, but his eyes were tired.
“Don’t do that now. Just get her out before she ruins that girl’s life.”
We stepped out of the elevator and heard Diane before we saw her.
Her voice carried down the hallway.
“My son is a married man. That woman has been calling him at night. Check the records.”
Sophie stood just inside her hospital room, pale and thin in a blue gown, one hand gripping the IV pole.
A nurse blocked Diane from entering.
Diane wore sunglasses and a cream coat like she had come to lunch, not to destroy a sick woman.
When she saw me, she smiled.
“You came.”
I walked straight to Sophie.
My sister’s eyes filled.
“Rachel, I’m sorry.”
I touched her shoulder.
“Not now.”
Then I turned to Diane.
“You are leaving.”
She laughed.
“You don’t give orders here.”
Michael stepped beside me.
“I do.”
Diane’s smile flickered.
“Michael, sweetheart, you need to stop humiliating yourself.”
“No. You need to stop humiliating everyone else.”
Her face hardened.
“She is using you.”
“She is sick.”
“She has always been dramatic.”
I took one step forward.
The nurse put a hand out gently.
Not to stop me.
To remind me where we were.
I breathed in.
“You came to a hospital to accuse a patient of sleeping with your son because you lost control at dinner.”
Diane’s eyes flashed.
“You slapped me.”
“You hit me first.”
“You disrespected me.”
Michael’s voice rose.
“You hit my wife in front of my daughter.”
The hallway went quiet.
Patients looked out from rooms.
A doctor stopped near the desk.
Diane noticed the audience and softened her voice.
“Michael, I was emotional.”
“No,” Andrew said behind us. “You were cruel.”
She turned.
“You stay out of this.”
Andrew stepped forward.
“For once, no.”
Her face twisted.
“You ungrateful boy.”
He laughed bitterly.
“There it is.”
Hospital security arrived with an administrator.
Diane immediately changed faces.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “There has been a misunderstanding. I’m concerned about my son.”
The administrator looked at Sophie.
“Is this woman welcome here?”
Sophie’s voice trembled.
“No.”
Diane stared at her.
The administrator nodded to security.
“Ma’am, you need to leave.”
Diane lifted her chin.
“I will leave when my son comes with me.”
Michael said, “I’m staying with my wife.”
The word wife landed.
Diane flinched.
Then her rage broke through again.
“Anna was your wife.”
The hallway froze.
Michael’s face went white.
Diane pointed at me.
“This woman is the mistake you made because you couldn’t stand being alone.”
My chest tightened.
Sophie whispered, “Oh my God.”
Michael looked at his mother for a long, terrible moment.
Then he said, “Anna would be ashamed of you.”
Diane slapped him.
The sound echoed.
I gasped.
Andrew cursed.
Security grabbed Diane’s arms.
Michael did not move.
A red mark bloomed across his cheek.
Diane looked shocked by her own hand.
Then she began to sob.
“My son. My baby.”
Michael stepped back.
“No.”
She reached for him.
He stepped back again.
“No more.”
Security escorted her down the hall while she screamed his name.
For once, nobody followed her.
Inside Sophie’s room, my sister collapsed onto the bed.
I sat beside her.
She looked fragile in a way I had never let myself see.
Her wrists were thin.
Her eyes too bright.
“I didn’t want you to know,” she whispered.
I swallowed.
“Why did you call Michael instead of me?”
She stared at her hands.
“Because I thought you’d be angry.”
“I am angry.”
Her face crumpled.
“But not because you’re sick.”
She looked at me.
I took her hand.
“I’m angry because you made me a stranger to your pain.”
Sophie cried.
Michael stood near the door, one hand against his slapped cheek.
“I helped her hide it,” he said.
“Yes,” I said. “You did.”
He nodded.
“I’ll make it right.”
I looked at him.
“Not by saying it.”
“I know.”
The doctor came in and explained Sophie needed ongoing treatment, insurance help, and family support.
Family support.
The words landed heavily.
My family had been breaking in separate rooms.
Diane had simply kicked the doors open in the cruelest way possible.
That night, Michael drove me home.
Neither of us spoke for a long time.
Then he said, “I’m going to file for a protective order against my mother.”
I looked at him.
He kept his eyes on the road.
“For you. For Emma. For Sophie. And for me.”
My throat tightened.
“Do you mean it?”
“Yes.”
His voice shook.
“I should have done it years ago.”
When we got home, Emma ran into his arms.
She touched his cheek.
“Grandma hit you too?”
Michael closed his eyes.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Emma hugged him tightly.
“Then she needs a time-out forever.”
For the first time all day, I almost smiled.
Michael looked at me over her head.
May you like
“A time-out forever,” he said softly.
And this time, he meant it.
