Chapter 15 - THE NEW RED CASE
Three months later, Lily returned to school carrying a new red allergy case clipped to a new backpack.
Rebecca let her choose both.
The old case remained in a kitchen drawer beside the court order and the hospital discharge papers. Rebecca could not throw it away yet. Not because she wanted to preserve the day, but because some objects stop being simple when you nearly lose a child around them.
The new case was brighter.
Less faded.
Lily liked that.
Daniel’s visits were still supervised. He came on Wednesdays and alternate Saturdays to a visitation center with puzzle tables and soft chairs and a wall painted to look like a forest no one truly relaxed inside.
He brought Lily sketchbooks, never cashews, never surprises.
Patricia was not allowed there.
Claire was not either.
One rainy Saturday evening, after a visit that had gone better than the previous two, Lily stood in the hallway pulling on her sneakers and looked up at Rebecca.
“Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“If I ever say my throat feels weird again, you’ll believe me right away, right?”
Rebecca knelt in front of her daughter and held the new red case between them.
“I will always believe you right away.”
Lily nodded, as if that answer repaired something small but vital.
At home, Rebecca clipped the case back onto the backpack and watched Lily zip it closed by herself.
May you like
The blue safety cap inside the injector remained untouched.
For the first time since the hospital, that was exactly how Rebecca wanted it.
