“Don't take it.”
The nurse looked toward the father.
The father looked toward his ex-wife.
His face had gone pale.
“What did you put in that backpack?”
The biological mother stared.
“Excuse me?”
“I didn't ask what belongs to you.”
“I asked what you put in it.”
“Nothing.”
Then she moved.
Fast.
She stepped around the nurse and reached for the strap.
The stepmother turned away instinctively.
The biological mother grabbed the backpack.
The stepmother held tighter.
“Stop.”
“Give it to me.”
“No.”
The biological mother shoved her hard in the shoulder.
The movement sent the stepmother sideways into the chair.
The father reached for his ex-wife.
“Hey!”
The nurse called:
“Security!”
The biological mother pulled again.
The backpack strap slipped.
The bag hit the floor.
The zipper burst partly open.
Several things spilled across the linoleum.
A pencil pouch.
A paperback novel.
Two notebooks.
A small stuffed keychain.
A plastic bag containing a child's sweater.
And something black and rectangular that slid beneath the nurse's shoe.
Everyone froze.
The nurse bent down.
She picked it up.
A small digital voice recorder.
Its red light was blinking.
Still recording.
The biological mother's face emptied.
Not anger.
Not embarrassment.
Fear.
Pure fear.
The stepmother saw it.
The father saw it too.
He turned toward her slowly.
“What is that?”
The woman answered too quickly.
“I don't know.”
The girl began crying.
The stepmother went immediately to the bed.
The nurse looked at the recorder.
Then toward the child.
“Is this yours?”
The girl shook her head.
The biological mother moved forward.
“Give it to me.”
The nurse stepped back.
“No.”
“That's private property.”
“Whose?”
The woman hesitated.
The hesitation was enough.
The father stared.
“Whose is it?”
No answer.
The nurse looked toward the ten-year-old.
“Do you know what this is?”
The child nodded.
Her tears continued silently.
“Can you tell me?”
The girl looked toward her stepmother.
The stepmother sat beside her.
“You don't have to tell everything at once.”
The girl's breath trembled.
“She put it in my bag.”
The father looked at his ex-wife.
The biological mother shook her head.
“No.”
The child continued.