Chapter 6 - THE PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY ROOM
Daniel called an ambulance.
Lily protested.
“I’m not sick.”
“You’re hurt.”
“Noah needs the doctor more.”
“They will check both of you.”
Paramedics examined Noah first.
He was dehydrated but stable.
His diaper showed he had not been changed often enough.
A faint rash covered his skin.
Lily’s shoulders tightened whenever anyone touched her lower back.
At the hospital, the pediatrician ordered imaging.
“She has a severe muscle strain,” the doctor said. “Possibly from prolonged carrying.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“How long would that take?”
“Hours. Especially with a baby this size.”
Lily weighed less than fifty pounds.
Noah weighed nearly eighteen.
“She should not have carried him all night.”
A social worker named Rachel Moore entered.
She spoke to Lily without Daniel in the room.
Daniel waited in the hallway holding Noah.
Through the glass, he watched his daughter use a doll to demonstrate how she held the baby while cleaning.
Rachel asked whether this had happened before.
Lily nodded.
“How many times?”
Lily held up both hands.
Daniel looked away.
His attorney, Rebecca Sloan, arrived carrying a laptop.
Daniel had sent her the footage during the ambulance ride.
“There’s more,” she said.
She showed him the camera clips of Claire and Marcus discussing the accounts.
Rebecca had already contacted the bank.
“The final transfer is scheduled for six a.m.”
“What time is it?”
“Four forty-two.”
“Stop it.”
“I’ve submitted the fraud notice. The bank is freezing the account.”
Daniel looked toward Lily.
“Freeze everything Claire or Marcus can access.”
Rebecca nodded.
“That includes the house credit line, investment accounts, and trust cards.”
“Do it.”
Hospital security preserved Lily’s stained shirt and the cracked formula container as evidence.
A police officer watched the footage.
When Diane’s voice ordered Lily to “try harder,” his expression hardened.
“This isn’t poor judgment,” he said. “This is child endangerment.”
Daniel’s phone began ringing.
Claire.
Marcus.
Diane.
He answered none of them.
Then a bank alert appeared.
WIRE TRANSFER SUSPENDED — SUSPECTED FRAUD.
A second notification followed.
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Marcus had attempted to log in again from the airport.
👉 Daniel stopped the money minutes before it disappeared, but airport records showed Claire had planned to leave the country without either child.
