Part Six: What the Doctor Said
Her name was Dr. Chen and she was perhaps forty, with a direct, precise manner that I found immediately reassuring.
She sat down.
“Mrs. Marley,” she said. “Leo is stable. He’s in pain and we’re managing that. I need to tell you what we found.”
I nodded.
“He has a rib fracture — the fifth rib on the left side. It’s a displaced fracture, which means the bone has moved from its normal position.” She paused in the way of someone calibrating how much detail was useful. “The displacement is inward. The rib has moved toward the lung. It has not yet punctured the lung, but it is close enough that we need to watch it carefully and may need to intervene.”
I was hearing every word.
“This is not the kind of injury that results from a simple fall or from the impact of landing on the floor,” she continued. “The force required to produce this fracture and this degree of displacement is significant. I need to ask you directly: can you tell me what happened?”
I told her.
I told her all of it — Ryan, the sound I heard from the kitchen, Leo on the floor, Ryan’s expression, my mother taking my phone, the things my father and sister had said. I told her I had driven to the hospital with Leo in the back seat. I told her I had run two red lights.
She listened without interrupting.
When I finished, she said: “By law, I am required to report this. The injury is consistent with intentional infliction of force. I need to file with child protective services and notify the police. I want you to know that before I do it.”
“I know,” I said. “I expected that.”
She looked at me.
“You’re okay with it.”
“He’s eight years old,” I said. “His rib almost punctured his lung. Yes. I’m okay with it.”
She nodded once. “I’ll need you to give a formal statement when they arrive. Officers will also go to the address where the incident occurred.” She paused. “You can see Leo now. He’s asking for you.”
