Lucy looked up at me as I filled two cups with water.
“Is my mom in trouble?” she whispered.
“No,” I said. “She’s sick. That’s different.”
Ben tried to sit up, but immediately started coughing hard.
That was enough for me.
I walked back into the living room.
“Enough,” I said. “They need a doctor now.”
Daniel straightened immediately.
“I already called one. My family uses a private physician. He’s on his way.”
Marilyn gave him a flat look.
“So money fixes everything now?”
“No,” Daniel said quietly. “But it can fix this part.”
The doctor arrived about thirty minutes later.
Lucy and Ben had the flu.
Marilyn had pneumonia—and should have been in a hospital days ago.
She tried to refuse.
Maybe because refusing was the only control she still had.
Daniel made things worse.
“I’m paying for it,” he said. “You’re going.”
Marilyn’s eyes flashed.
“I didn’t survive 20 years without you just so you could come back and order me around.”
I stepped between them.
“Then don’t go for him. Go for your kids.”
That worked.
Marilyn closed her eyes… then nodded.
