“Sir, you just told me you noticed a problem only a few minutes before your wife arrived.”
Luke’s face reddened.
“Crying isn’t a breathing problem.”
The officer said nothing.
Luke kept talking.
“Kids cry.
Kids throw fits.
Parents discipline them.
Apparently everybody here thinks saying no to a child is some kind of crime.”
Nobody had accused him of saying no.
Nobody had even used the word discipline except Luke.
He was defending himself against details no one had challenged yet.
The paramedic beside Addie asked her another simple question.
“Sweetheart, when you told Daddy it was hard to breathe, what did he say?”
Luke stepped forward.
“Don’t interrogate her.”
An officer raised a hand.
“Sir.
Stay back.”
Luke stopped.
Addie looked at me.
I brushed the hair away from her forehead.
“You can tell him.”
She whispered, “Daddy said I was pretending because I wanted Mommy.”
My vision blurred.
I refused to cry.
Not yet.
The paramedic nodded gently.
“And did you ask him to call someone?”
A tiny nod.
“What did he say?”
Addie’s eyes filled.
“He said no.”
Luke exploded.
“She’s five! She doesn’t even understand what you’re asking!”
The officer turned toward him.
“Lower your voice.”
“This is my house!”
“Lower your voice.”
Luke looked around the room as though expecting someone to support him.
Nobody did.
The paramedic who recognized him stood near the doorway, watching carefully.
His partner stayed with Addie.
The officers remained between Luke and the couch.
For the first time, Luke was surrounded by witnesses he couldn’t intimidate into silence.
The balance of the room had changed completely.
The second paramedic announced that Addie needed to be transported to the hospital for evaluation.
“I’m going with her,” I said immediately.
Luke answered, “I’ll come too.”
The officer shook his head.
“Not right now.”
Luke stared at him.
“Excuse me?”
“We need to speak with you here.”
Luke turned to me.
“You’re going to let them keep me from my own daughter?”
