Part 2: The Night Maisie Kept Watch
Brooke’s smile vanished.
“Maisie, go downstairs. This is grown-up business.”
My daughter reached for Cole’s arm.
“Mommy is downstairs. She’s sick. You have to help her.”
Brooke tried to move her aside. Maisie grabbed Brooke’s hand and bit it. Brooke cried out and shoved her away. Maisie fell against the side of the bed.
I rushed to her, reaching for her head, but once again I couldn’t protect her. Cole stood up, and for one brief second I thought he would comfort our little girl.
Instead, he checked Brooke’s hand.
“Are you okay?”
Brooke’s eyes grew wet.
“I know Mara can’t stand me, but I never thought she’d teach Maisie to bite.”
Cole turned toward our daughter.
“Come here.”
He lifted her by the arm. She winced.
“Who taught you to do that?”
“She was kissing you.”
“Don’t talk back. Apologize to Brooke.”
Maisie glanced toward the doorway.
“But Mommy—”
“Now, Maisie.”
Her father’s voice made her tremble. She lowered her head.
“I’m sorry, Aunt Brooke.”
Then she reached for Cole’s shirt.
“I said sorry. Can we help Mommy now?”
There was hope in the way she asked, as if the right words might finally make him understand.
Brooke rubbed her wrist.
“Cole, it really hurts. Could you get me something for it?”
He set Maisie down.
“Go downstairs. Let me take care of this.”
He closed the bedroom door.
My daughter stood looking at it for a moment, then began the long trip down the stairs alone. I walked beside her, trying to steady her when her foot missed a step. She reached the bottom safely and hurried to my side.
“Mommy, I apologized,” she said. “But Daddy wouldn’t come.”
She lay down close to me and touched my hand.
“Your fingers are so cold.”
Maisie went to the sofa for her pink coat and laid it over my chest. Then she found another blanket, tucked herself beneath it beside me, and tried to sleep.
A little after midnight, Judith came downstairs for water. She saw Maisie curled up against me and shook her head.
“Stubborn, just like her mother.”
She turned off the last lamp and went back upstairs.
I watched Maisie fight to keep her eyes open. Whenever she drifted off, she jolted awake and touched my cheek.
“Mommy?”
She pressed her ear to my chest, the way we played with her toy stethoscope.
“Your heart isn’t going thump-thump.”
She looked toward the stairs.
“Daddy?”
No one answered.
Then she remembered the emergency number from a cartoon we had watched together. She reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. It had locked, but she pressed my finger against the screen until it opened. I watched her tap the emergency button.
“Mommy, I’m getting a doctor,” she whispered.
Before she could finish, Cole appeared at the top of the stairs.
“What are you doing with your mother’s phone?”
“I’m calling a doctor. Mommy isn’t breathing.”
He took the phone from her and ended the call.
“You shouldn’t play with things you don’t understand. Go back to bed.”
“But Mommy won’t move!”
Cole looked down at me. For the first time, he came close enough to see my face clearly. He crouched beside me, and I felt a flicker of hope.
Please, I thought. Just touch my neck. Check for a pulse. Look at my head.
He stopped short.
“Mara, I know you can hear me,” he said. “You’ve frightened Maisie enough. If you keep this up in the morning, I’m taking her to my brother’s place.”
Then he went upstairs.
Maisie watched him disappear, then crawled under the blanket and pressed against my side.
“Daddy’s mad,” she whispered. “Don’t make any noise, Mommy.”
She believed she was protecting me. She had no way of knowing that the person in danger was still the one who could hear her.
At seven the next morning, the doorbell rang.
Judith answered it in her robe.
“Who is it?”
“It’s me, Peter.”
Cole’s younger brother had been away at a college conference. He had expected to come home later that afternoon, but his plans had changed. He carried a backpack and a box of pastries.
“I caught an earlier train,” he said. “I brought breakfast.”
Judith’s face lit up.
“Come in, sweetheart. I saved some cake from last night.”
Peter set down his bag. Then he saw the blanket on the living room floor and the edge of my skirt beneath it.
“Mara?”
Judith waved a hand dismissively.
“Don’t worry about her. She’s been making a scene since dinner.”
Peter moved closer.
“Since last night?”
“Brooke pulled her chair away as a joke. Mara fell, and now she’s refusing to get up.”
Peter’s expression changed. He pulled back the blanket and saw my face. Then he noticed the stain on the floor beside my head.
He knelt and checked my wrist. His face went still.
“Mom, when did Mara last speak?”
Judith looked irritated.
“Don’t encourage this.”
“Answer me.”
It was the first time I had ever heard Peter raise his voice to her.
“At dinner,” Judith said. “Yesterday.”
Peter took out his phone and called for emergency help.
“I need an ambulance and police officers at this address. An adult woman is unresponsive and has a serious head injury.”
Judith went pale.
“Why would you call the police? It was an accident.”
Peter didn’t answer. He was looking at the broken barrette tangled in my hair. When he moved a strand aside, his hand shook.
“Oh, Mara.”
Maisie came out from behind the sofa. Her hair was tangled, her cheeks streaked with dried tears.
“Uncle Peter!”
He gathered her into his arms.
“Hi, sweetheart.”
“Mommy won’t wake up. I covered her with a blanket and cleaned her head, but she’s still sleeping.”
Peter closed his eyes.
“How long has she been asleep?”
Maisie held up three fingers.
“Since Grandma’s party. Aunt Brooke moved the chair. Mommy fell down, and then she didn’t talk anymore.”
Peter looked at Judith.
“You knew she hit her head?”
Judith started to speak, then stopped.
“And you left her here all night?”
“We thought she was pretending.”
Peter stood with Maisie in his arms.
“You’ll have to explain that to the officers.”
The commotion woke Cole. He came downstairs with Brooke behind him, wearing one of his shirts.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
Peter turned toward him.
“Why is Mara still on the floor?”
Cole frowned.
“Don’t start. She’s trying to get everyone’s attention.”
“Your wife is gone, Cole.”
Cole let out a short, disbelieving laugh, but the next thing he did would break everyone in that room…
