Chapter 4
Lauren crossed her arms.
“Daniel, before you overreact, you need to understand what it’s been like here.”
Daniel turned to her.
“What has it been like?”
Lauren’s face tightened with practiced frustration.
“Your mother refuses to listen. She hides things. She acts helpless. She makes me the villain no matter what I do.”
Margaret whispered, “I didn’t hide anything.”
Lauren snapped, “You hid that bill.”
Daniel looked down at the form.
“What bill?”
Lauren exhaled sharply.
“She went to the hospital for nothing. A panic spell. Dizziness. Whatever. They ran tests, and now there’s a bill.”
Margaret shook her head.
“It wasn’t nothing.”
Lauren glared at her.
Daniel stepped between them.
“Don’t look at her like that.”
Lauren blinked.
For the first time since he had known her, Daniel saw real fear behind her eyes.
Not guilt.
Fear of losing control.
He looked at the form again.
Discharge instructions.
Follow-up boxes.
A referral to a cardiologist.
His blood ran cold.
“Mom,” he said, “did you have chest pain?”
Margaret looked down.
Lauren answered first.
“She said she did. Then the doctors said she was stable.”
Daniel’s voice turned sharp.
“I didn’t ask you.”
He knelt in front of his mother again.
“Mom.”
Margaret’s voice was barely above a breath.
“I couldn’t breathe. My arm hurt. I asked Lauren to call you.”
Daniel closed his eyes for one second.
Just one.
May you like
Because if he kept them open, the room might not survive him.
Read Part 5 to find out why Daniel realized the hospital visit was only the beginning of Lauren’s cruelty.
