Cut it off! Noah screamed. Cut it off my arm!
"Cut it off!" Noah screamed. "Cut it off my arm!"
His tiny body convulsed so violently that the hospital bed shook beneath him.
The room fell silent.
Everyone froze.
Everyone except his stepmother.
Marissa stood beside the IV pole in a pristine white cashmere coat, one manicured hand covering her lips. To the doctors and nurses, she looked like a devastated parent.
To Noah...
She looked satisfied.
"Buddy," his father said, forcing a calm voice. "It's just a cast."
"No!" Noah cried, tears streaming down his face. "There's something inside it! It moves... it scratches... She put something in there!"
Marissa let out a quiet sigh.
"Daniel," she said gently, "he's hallucinating. The pain medication is making him confused."
"I'm NOT LYING!" Noah shrieked.
Daniel rose from his chair, his face flushed with embarrassment and frustration.
"Enough."
One word.
That was all it took.
The hope disappeared from Noah's eyes.
Then another voice broke the silence.
"Mr. Vale..."
Evelyn stood in the doorway, rainwater still glistening on her coat. She had been Noah's babysitter for only two weeks.
Long enough for Marissa to despise her.
She asked too many questions.
She noticed too much.
And unlike everyone else...
She refused to look away.
"A child begging someone to cut off his cast isn't normal," Evelyn said quietly.
Marissa's expression hardened.
"You're his babysitter," she replied coldly. "Not his doctor."
Without answering, Evelyn set her bag on the counter.
She reached inside...
...and pulled out a compact orthopedic cast saw.
Daniel stared at it.
"Why would you have that?"
Evelyn met his eyes without flinching.
"Because before I became a nanny..."
"I was a pediatric trauma nurse."
For the first time that day...
Marissa's smile disappeared.
Only for a fraction of a second.
May you like
But it was enough.
Because Evelyn had been watching for that exact reaction.
