Chapter 5 - The Story They Wanted Me to Tell
By morning, the hospital room smelled like disinfectant and the lilies somebody had sent without signing the card. My incision hurt when I breathed. Nurses checked my blood pressure and helped me sit up. Every sound from the hallway made me think of Mae.
The NICU doctor said she needed breathing assistance and time, but her condition was stable. It was the most beautiful word I'd ever heard.
"Can I see her?"
"Soon," the nurse promised. "We want you steady on your feet first."
Dean sat beside me with the folded police report on his lap. It said an officer had interviewed guests after the ambulance left. Three relatives claimed I'd tripped. Two claimed not to have seen anything. Maren told the officer I had become upset over a family disagreement and might have been dizzy.
"She assaulted me," I said.
"I told them that. Ivy told them too."
"Ivy's six. They'll say she imagined it."
Dean looked at the carpet. "I used to make excuses for my sister. I won't do it again."
His mother arrived at ten wearing a pearl-colored coat and an expression as tight as a locked drawer. Evelyn Mercer had started the Harbor House Fund after the coastal floods seven years earlier. Donors admired her. Local news stations called her generous and tireless.
She did not ask about Mae.
"This is getting out of hand," she said. "Maren is devastated. Owen and Celia's wedding is all over social media."
Dean stood. "My wife nearly died."
"And she's alive. Thank God. There is no reason to destroy your sister over an unfortunate accident."
I waited for anger to make my voice shake. It didn't.
"Did Maren tell you why she wanted my phone?"
Evelyn's eyes moved toward the drawer beside my bed. "This is not the place."
"It wasn't the place to shove me, either."
She leaned in. "Laurel, think about your family before you speak to detectives."
"I am thinking about my family."
For the first time, she glanced at the photograph Dean had taken of Mae behind her incubator wall. Something flickered across her face, but she quickly hid it.
After Evelyn left, Dean called Dalia at the hotel. He asked whether the ballroom cameras had caught the attack.
Dalia answered after a long pause. "The main recording from that hour has been erased."
May you like
Then she lowered her voice.
"But the bride came back here last night, and I think she knows who did it."
