“She said it was supposed to hear what happens at Dad's house.”
The hallway seemed to shrink.
The father stared.
The stepmother felt cold move through her.
The biological mother stepped closer.
“She doesn't understand.”
The nurse held the recorder away.
“Ma'am, please stay where you are.”
The girl continued.
“She said I wasn't supposed to touch it.”
The father asked quietly:
“How long?”
The child closed her eyes.
“I don't know.”
“Baby, look at me.”
She did.
“How long has that been in your backpack?”
“A long time.”
The biological mother said:
“This is ridiculous.”
The father turned.
“No.”
His voice was low.
“What's ridiculous is that you are still talking like we can't hear her.”
The nurse examined the recorder.
The screen displayed dozens of audio files.
Dates.
Times.
The biological mother lunged forward again.
“Give me that.”
The nurse stepped behind the counter.
Hospital security appeared at the end of the corridor.
Two officers.
The nurse held up one hand.
“Stay there.”
The biological mother stopped.
The stepmother looked down at the girl.
The child had begun shaking.
The stepmother took her hand.
“You're okay.”
“No.”
The child whispered.
“You're not.”
The stepmother frowned.
“What?”
“She'll say it was you.”
The father heard.
“What was her?”
The biological mother shouted:
“Stop questioning her!”
The girl flinched.
The father turned sharply.
“You don't get to tell us to stop now.”
The nurse looked toward the recorder.
Then toward the girl's medical chart.
Something in her expression had changed.
She asked the child gently:
“Sweetheart, did you turn this on yourself today?”
The girl nodded.
The biological mother said:
“She doesn't know how to use that.”
The child looked at her.
“Yes, I do.”
The room became silent.
The girl continued.
“I saw how.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
The nurse asked:
“Why did you turn it on?”
The girl swallowed.
“Because nobody believes me when she says things and then says she didn't.”
The biological mother stared.
The stepmother felt her own chest tighten.
The father sat slowly in the chair.
The child looked at the recorder.
“I left it on.”
The nurse's thumb hovered above the playback button.