Chapter 2 - The Story Ryan Had Accepted
Ryan did not question Mason again that night.
He cleaned the spaghetti from his son’s hair with a warm washcloth, cut a grilled-cheese sandwich into pieces small enough to manage with a fork strapped to Mason’s cast, and watched him eat too quickly.
That frightened him more than the crying would have.
At 9:20 p.m., Ryan called Mason’s pediatrician.
At 10:05, they were at Edward Hospital.
Mason was dehydrated but stable. His bloodwork showed he had been eating far less than a recovering child should.
The emergency physician asked Ryan when the fractures had happened.
“Eight days ago.”
“And how?”
Ryan gave the answer Vanessa had given him from the hospital that afternoon.
“He fell from the retaining wall behind our house.”
Mason’s eyes moved toward him.
The social worker noticed.
“What were you doing on the wall, Mason?”
Mason studied the blanket covering his good leg.
“Nothing.”
Ryan remembered the call from Frankfurt.
Vanessa had sounded exhausted.
Mason had been “showing off,” she said. He had climbed onto the stone wall even after being warned. Chloe had witnessed the fall and was traumatized.
Ryan had asked to speak to Mason.
Vanessa said he had just been given pain medication and was asleep.
Ryan had accepted that.
Worse, he had felt relieved when she told him she could handle everything until he came home.
The social worker stepped into the hallway with Ryan.
“With injuries this significant and the food restriction you described, I’m required to make a report.”
Ryan nodded.
He didn’t argue.
That alone showed him how much the evening had changed.
On the drive home after midnight, Mason said nothing until Ryan turned onto their street.
Then he asked, “Is Vanessa coming back tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
Ryan hesitated.
He and Vanessa had been married six years. Her name was on the mortgage. His anger could not erase those facts overnight.
“Not until I know you’re safe.”
Mason watched the dark houses pass.
“Chloe didn’t just see me fall.”
Ryan gripped the steering wheel.
“What happened?”
Mason looked toward the window.
“I’m not supposed to say.”
“Who told you that?”
May you like
Mason’s answer came after they pulled into the driveway.
“Both of them.”
