Chapter 2 - FREDERICK WAS SICKER THAN I KNEW
At the hospital, Frederick was diagnosed with a serious ear infection complicated by dehydration.
Not life-threatening.
But bad enough that the pediatrician wanted to know how long he had been running a fever.
Amy looked ashamed.
“Since last night.”
I stared.
“You didn’t call me?”
She looked at me.
“Your mother said you were working and not to bother you.”
My chest tightened.
“I would have come home.”
“I know.”
But the way she said it told me she hadn’t known that yesterday.
The doctor asked:
“Was he drinking normally?”
Amy shook her head.
“No.”
“Wet diapers?”
“Fewer.”
“Medication?”
“I gave him infant acetaminophen twice.”
Then she looked down.
“Teresa said I was wasting medicine because babies get fevers all the time.”
I felt something inside me harden.
The doctor remained professional.
“He needed evaluation sooner.”
Amy started crying.
“I wanted to take him.”
“Why didn’t you?”
Silence.
Then:
“She took my car keys.”
I stared.
“What?”
Amy’s eyes moved toward me.
“She said I wasn’t driving anywhere until the party was over.”
That sentence changed everything.
Not just bullying.
Control.
I sat beside her.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
She whispered:
“She checks my phone.”
For a moment, I couldn’t speak.
The three thousand dollars every month.
The groceries.
The bills.
The help.
That was the story Teresa told me.
May you like
The real house Amy had been living in sounded completely different.
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