The Voices of the Innocent
Two weeks after the incident, Emma was discharged from the hospital. The color had returned to her cheeks, and for the first time in months, her laughter echoed down the sunlit corridors of their suburban home in Westchester.
Nate had hired round-the-clock private security and brought in Mrs. Gable, a retired pediatric nurse with forty years of experience and a heart of pure gold, to care for Emma while he worked from home.
One afternoon, Emma sat on the living room rug, carefully coloring a picture of a house with a tall oak tree.
"Daddy, look," she said, holding up the drawing. "There’s you, me, and Mommy Sarah looking down from the cloud."
Nate knelt down, smiling warmly as he traced the crayon lines. "It’s beautiful, sweetheart. Where is the bad memory?"
Emma looked up thoughtfully. "I put it in a box and threw it in the river. That’s what Mrs. Gable said we should do with bad dreams."
Nate kissed the top of her head. "Mrs. Gable is very wise."
May you like
Yet, Nate knew that justice in the real world could not simply be drawn away with crayons. The grand jury had convened, and Lily had been formally indicted on charges of attempted second-degree murder, child endangerment, and healthcare fraud.
The battle for truth had only just begun.
