She frowned.
“You fell?”
“No.”
“Dad?”
George was sitting at the dining table. He didn’t look up. I lowered my voice.
“He says he doesn’t know either.”
Sarah stared at him for a long moment.
Then she took me into the hallway.
“Mom, was Dad beside you all night?”
“Yes.”
“And you really don’t remember how that happened?”
“No.”
Her voice became quieter.
“Has anything like this ever happened before?”
I immediately understood what she was asking.
“Sarah, your father has never hurt me.”
“I’m not accusing him.”
But she looked scared.
And, for the first time, so was I. An hour later, she drove me to our doctor.
Dr. Collins examined the bruise carefully.
He asked whether I had fallen recently, whether I had started any new medication, and whether I had noticed unexplained bruises anywhere else.
