Chapter 2 - Three Days Earlier
Three days before the ICU alarms, Lily had been sitting at the kitchen table drawing stars on the corner of a hospital appointment sheet.
She had always drawn when she was nervous.
The stars were never perfect. Some had six points, some had four and one looked more like a crooked flower. Emily kept every page anyway.
“Do I have to stay overnight this time?” Lily asked.
Emily placed a bowl of soup in front of her.
“Only if Dr. Bennett thinks you need extra monitoring.”
Lily frowned.
“The hospital blankets smell weird.”
“They smell clean.”
“They smell like cold paper.”
Emily smiled despite herself.
“Then I’ll bring your yellow blanket.”
Lily’s rare immune disorder had been diagnosed two years earlier after months of unexplained weakness and recurring fevers. Most days she looked like any other nine-year-old. She went to school, argued about vegetables and filled the apartment with music from the old keyboard Emily had bought at a yard sale.
But when Lily’s condition flared, it moved quickly.
The prescribed rescue medication prevented those episodes from becoming dangerous. Three sealed doses were kept in a temperature-controlled case, available whenever her specialist determined that she needed one.
Daniel had offered to collect the latest supply from the hospital pharmacy.
He had been unusually eager.
“I’m already going downtown,” he had said. “There’s no reason for you to miss work.”
Emily had hesitated.
Daniel was Lily’s father, but during the year since their separation, he had attended only two appointments. He usually claimed he was too busy at Carter Development Group, the real-estate company Emily’s father had built before his death.
After the funeral, Daniel had taken over much of the daily management.
He had also begun treating Emily as though she were a visitor in her own family business.
“I can collect the medication,” Emily had said.
Daniel had smiled.
“You’re always saying I need to be more involved. Now you’re suspicious because I’m trying.”
The accusation had worked.
It always did.
Emily had given him the collection authorization and the pharmacy access code.
That evening, he arrived at the apartment carrying the insulated case.
“Three doses?” Emily asked.
“Three.”
She opened the outer case but did not break the tamper seal.
The label showed Lily’s name and the correct prescription number.
Daniel leaned against the counter.
“See? Nothing exploded.”
“I’m checking because the hospital told me to check.”
“You make everything sound like a crisis.”
Lily looked up from the table.
“Dad, Mom doesn’t make things a crisis.”
Daniel’s smile disappeared for half a second.
Then he ruffled Lily’s hair.
“Of course not, princess.”
Lily pulled away.
Emily noticed.
Daniel noticed that she noticed.
He picked up his keys.
“I have a meeting.”
“At eight at night?”
“With investors.”
“Is Vanessa involved?”
The question came out before Emily could stop it.
Daniel’s younger sister had recently returned to the city after several years overseas. Since then, Daniel had been transferring company money into projects carrying Vanessa’s name.
Every time Emily asked about them, he called them temporary investments.
Daniel’s hand tightened around his keys.
“My sister is rebuilding her life.”
“With money from my father’s company.”
“Our company.”
“My shares are held in trust until the estate review is completed.”
“And who manages the trust until then?” Daniel asked.
He smiled again.
“You signed the temporary authority.”
Emily remembered the document.
It had been placed among dozens of hospital and funeral papers two days after her father’s death. Daniel had said it allowed him to keep employees paid while she cared for Lily.
She had been too exhausted to read every page.
The memory now left a sour taste in her mouth.
“Send me copies of every transfer made to Vanessa,” she said.
Daniel opened the door.
“You should focus on Lily instead of imagining enemies.”
After he left, Emily checked the insulated medication case again.
The tamper seal looked intact.
Still, something bothered her.
The case seemed lighter than the previous one.
She told herself it was anxiety.
At midnight, Lily woke with a fever.
By morning, the fever had dropped, but she was unusually tired. Dr. Bennett advised Emily to bring her to the hospital for observation.
Daniel arrived just as they were leaving.
He looked at the insulated case in Emily’s hand.
“You won’t need all of that.”
“The doses stay with Lily.”
“Give me one,” he said. “Vanessa has been having health problems. Her doctor is trying to get the same treatment approved.”
Emily stared at him.
“This medication is prescribed specifically for Lily.”
“It’s the same drug.”
“That doesn’t make it transferable.”
Daniel lowered his voice.
“One dose could help my sister.”
“One missing dose could hurt your daughter.”
His expression hardened.
“Vanessa is family too.”
“So is Lily.”
Daniel looked past Emily toward the hallway where Lily was putting on her shoes.
May you like
Then he said the sentence Emily would remember in the ICU.
“Sometimes one person matters more.”
