When he asked whether I believed he meant to injure Mason, I gave him the only answer I had.
“I believe you knew he was hurt afterward.”
He lowered his head.
“And you hid it.”
That was the line he could not argue with.
By the time Mason was cleared to leave, Ellie had agreed to the safety arrangements required for him.
She did not leave with Thomas.
Mason left wrapped in the same blue blanket I had carried into St. Vincent’s.
This time Ellie carried him.
I carried the diaper bag.
Thomas walked out separately.
Over the following days, the apartment that had once seemed too clean and too controlled became somewhere Ellie no longer wanted to sleep.
She stayed away while the investigation continued.
Thomas was required to follow the restrictions placed on his contact with Mason.
There was no dramatic speech that repaired anything.
No apology that erased four marks from a two-month-old child.
