She did not press it.
Not yet.
She looked toward hospital security.
Then toward the father.
Then at the biological mother.
“This may be evidence.”
The biological mother laughed nervously.
“Evidence of what?”
The child whispered:
“Of what she made me take.”
The father stood so quickly the chair struck the wall.
“What?”
The stepmother looked at the girl.
The nurse's expression sharpened instantly.
“What did she make you take?”
The biological mother spoke over everyone.
“She has medication.”
The girl shook her head.
“Not mine.”
The nurse crouched beside the bed.
“Sweetheart, listen carefully. Did you take medicine today that was not prescribed to you?”
The girl's lips trembled.
“Yes.”
The father looked as though someone had punched him.
“What medicine?”
“I don't know.”
The biological mother stepped forward.
“She is confused.”
The stepmother stood.
“Stop saying that.”
The words came out sharper than she intended.
The biological mother looked at her.
“You stay out of this.”
The stepmother moved between her and the bed.
“No.”
For two years, she had swallowed insult after insult because she refused to make a child choose between adults.
She had endured being called replacement mother.
Home-wrecker, though the marriage had ended years before she met her husband.
Intruder.
Pretend parent.
She had remained quiet when quiet protected the girl.
Now quiet would protect the wrong person.
“No,” she repeated. “You don't get to call her confused every time she says something you don't like.”
The biological mother stared.
“You think you're her mother now?”
The stepmother's eyes did not move.
“No.”
“I think she's frightened.”
“And right now that matters more than either one of us.”
The nurse turned toward another staff member.
“I need the physician back in here.”
Then to the father:
“Has she had any unexplained symptoms recently?”
The father stared.
Yes.
The answer came before he spoke it.
Headaches.
Dizziness.
Sleepiness.
Stomach pain.
One episode when the girl could barely stay awake during dinner after returning from her mother's house.
Another when she vomited at school Monday morning.
They had blamed stress.
Custody transitions.
A stomach virus.
Growth.
The stepmother looked toward her husband.