Daniel looked up.
“That would make this public again.”
“It’s already public.”
“You don’t get to play the hero after starting it.”
“No,” Eric said. “But I can tell the truth.”
The meeting was held the following Thursday. Daniel refused to attend, so I watched the livestream from Sophie’s hospital room.
Eric stood alone at the microphone.
He did not mention the details of Sophie’s illness. He simply stated that he had contacted the district while terrified and without complete information. He said the medical investigation found no evidence that Daniel had harmed any child.
Then he said the words Daniel had demanded.
“I accused him without evidence. I was wrong.”
When the meeting ended, Sophie looked toward Daniel.
“Are you still mad at Dad?”
“Yes,” he answered honestly.
“Are you going to stay mad forever?”
“I don’t know.”
She considered that.
“You tell me science changes when there’s new evidence.”
Daniel smiled faintly.
“People are harder than science.”
“But you can try.”
The next MRI showed that the tumor had shrunk significantly. The pressure near Sophie’s visual pathways had decreased, although Dr. Shah warned that treatment was not finished.
“The scan looks better,” she said. “And the hCG is approaching the normal range.”
Eric stared at the monitor.
“How can something that small have done all this?”
“It affected a very sensitive area,” Dr. Shah replied.
I thought of how the test result had done the same thing to our family. A few words on a screen had exposed every crack between us and forced those cracks wider.
Eric withdrew his emergency custody petition. He did not ask me to forgive him. He only asked for permission to keep showing up.
I gave it because Sophie wanted him there.
