The Perfect Child(81)

Allison had sighed. “I don’t know what I’d do without him these past few days. I’m so glad he’s home.”

“I bet.” I’d shifted into the reason for my visit. I hadn’t wanted to, but I’d been pressed for time. “There have been some changes in the kids’ case, though, and that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” I’d paused, giving her a minute to settle back into the conversation. “The Department of Children’s Services works as a team, and different social workers have different roles. There’re social workers that work within the hospital setting and workers like me who work outside the hospital setting. It gets confusing because I often visit families in the hospital but only if I’m already working with them or if one of the hospital social workers files a report. Does that make sense?”

She had nodded.

“A hospital social worker was assigned to Cole’s case. Her name is Holly, and she filed a Child in Need of Protective Services order given the nature of his injuries.” Allison had looked as confused as I’d expected. “Any children that are in the home have to be removed until the preliminary investigation is complete. Basically, it’s an emergency order designed to keep the kids safe until they rule out child abuse.”

She’d held up her hand to stop me. “Wait. They think Cole was abused?”

“Not necessarily, but they have to make sure because of the factors surrounding his injuries. Unfortunately, his injuries and the circumstances surrounding them are what we typically see in kids who’ve been abused—the kind of head injury, his age, the mother being alone with the child, no identified accident, and previous emergency room visits due to injury with other children in the home. I—”

“That’s absurd. Hannah would never hurt anyone, let alone a child. Are you kidding me?”

“I agree, but you have to understand where the hospital is coming from. They are liable if they miss child abuse, so they always err on the side of being overcautious. I can’t blame them for it, and honestly, if I didn’t know Hannah so well, I’d have my suspicions, too, and probably do the same thing.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“So what happens now?”

“That’s what I was hoping you could help with,” I had said. “Janie has to be in emergency care until the report is finished. It will probably take about two to three days for them to determine that it’s not a case of child abuse, and then the protective order will be lifted. In cases like this, we like to place the child with a family member, so I wanted to ask if you would act as Janie’s guardian during the investigation.”

She hadn’t even paused before responding. “Of course. I’ll do anything for Hannah.”

“It won’t just be Janie. If Cole gets out of the hospital before it’s complete, he’ll need to stay with you too.”

Her face had flooded with worry at the mention of Cole’s name. “That’s fine.”

“Thanks so much for doing this. I know Hannah appreciates it, too, and she’ll thank you once she’s feeling more like herself.” I had looked around. “Can I talk to Janie before I leave?”

“Certainly. I’ll get her.” Greg had herded all of them into the backyard for a game of tag, and now Allison had walked to the back of the house and called her inside.

Janie had stomped into the kitchen. She hadn’t looked happy to see me. She never did.

“Are you having a good time playing with your cousins?” I’d asked.

She’d nodded, looking annoyed. “Can I go play now?”

“I just wanted to talk to you about something before I left. Have you ever had a sleepover before?”

Her eyes had lit up. “I love sleepovers.”

“Good, because you’re going to have a sleepover here for a few nights while your parents are in the hospital with Cole.” I’d stared at her, making sure she understood. That’s when I had noticed the fingertip bruises on her neck. My legs had gone weak. I’d needed to sit down. How could I have missed them? In all my twenty-five years as a social worker, I’d never missed something so important.



Luke’s voice broke into my memory. “Did you report it that day?”

“I had back-to-back client meetings, so I wasn’t able to.” It was true, but we both knew it didn’t matter.

“For the record, you didn’t report the incident that day?”

“I did not.”

He locked eyes with me. “In fact, you didn’t even note it in her chart until three days later, did you?”





FIFTY-ONE

CHRISTOPHER BAUER

We were waiting on Cole’s discharge papers. The doctors had finally cleared him to go home, but that had been two hours ago, and we still hadn’t gotten any of the paperwork we needed.

I stared at Hannah as she paced the room, treading a path across the linoleum. She was in the same clothes she’d been in since we had gotten here. Her shirt was filthy now. She held Cole against her chest as she walked, babbling underneath her breath. I needed to get them both home. I had understood her being this upset when we hadn’t known if he was going to be okay, but she was worse now than she had been before, and the doctors said he was going to be fine. Dan’s former nanny, Greta, was coming to our house tomorrow for an interview. I hadn’t told Hannah, but I didn’t think it would matter all that much because she spent most of her time lost somewhere in her thoughts. There was no way I was leaving her alone with either of the kids. Not until she was better.