He said the police needed to be contacted too.
The speed of his response told me more than reassurance could have.
Until then, some small part of my mind had still been searching for an explanation that would reduce what was happening.
Maybe the bottle was old.
Maybe Emma had misunderstood the instructions.
Maybe Diane had made an astonishing but somehow less dangerous mistake.
But the doctor was no longer treating the situation like a confused family conversation.
He was documenting it.
He was preserving the bottle.
He was calling for outside help.
And Emma was still watching me.
That was the hardest part of the room.
Adults understand that frightening information can create urgent action.
Children often understand only that they said something and suddenly everybody changed.
I did not want Emma to connect honesty with chaos.
