Chapter 2 - The Things Nia Had Been Hiding
Keisha called for help.
Two hospital staff members arrived within moments. Talia released the nurse's arm when she realized other people were watching.
"This is ridiculous," she insisted. "I'm her mother."
"And she's our patient," Keisha replied. "Everyone needs to step back."
Nia had curled into herself in the wheelchair.
Darius kept one hand on the backpack and the other on his daughter's shoulder.
"You're safe, sweetheart."
But Nia was staring at her mother.
Not at the bag.
Not at the hospital staff.
At her mother.
A physician took Nia into an examination room. Keisha explained the confrontation, and Talia was asked to remain outside while Nia received an initial assessment.
Darius stayed with his daughter.
Only then did he open the backpack.
Inside were ordinary things.
A pink pencil case.
Two schoolbooks.
A wrinkled sweatshirt.
A plastic container holding a half-eaten granola bar.
Then his fingers touched a small clear pouch wedged beneath the textbooks.
Inside the pouch was an over-the-counter laxative bottle, partially empty.
Beside it was a folded sheet of paper.
Darius unfolded the paper.
Across the top, in Talia's neat handwriting, were two words.
FOOD RULES.
Below them was a dated list.
Extra bread.
Food taken after dinner.
Unauthorized snack.
Beside several entries were marks and the word "cleanse."
Darius read the page twice.
He couldn't understand it.
"Nia, baby, where did this come from?"
His daughter was sitting on the examination bed now, clutching a hospital blanket.
"Mommy wrote it."
"What does 'cleanse' mean?"
Nia's eyes filled again.
"She said if I ate food I wasn't supposed to, I had to clean it out."
Darius felt something cold settle in his chest.
"How?"
Nia pointed at the bottle.
For a moment, he couldn't speak.
Then he turned toward the physician, Dr. Ellis, who had returned after examining Nia.
"She says her mother has been giving her something from this bottle."
Dr. Ellis took the information seriously without reaching a conclusion from the bottle alone.
He asked Darius to leave the pouch available for the medical team, and began arranging appropriate tests and supportive treatment.
Nia needed evaluation for dehydration, abdominal symptoms, and possible exposure to medication.
Darius watched a technician prepare to draw blood.
His daughter turned toward him.
"Are you mad?"
He blinked.
"Mad at you?"
She nodded.
"Because I took Mommy's things."
Darius sat beside her.
"Why did you take them?"
Nia pulled the blanket higher.
"She said she'd throw them away. I wanted you to see. I tried to tell you last week, but you said Mommy knew what was best."
The words landed harder than any accusation Talia could have made.
Last week.
He remembered.
He had been standing at the kitchen counter answering work emails when Nia approached him.
"Daddy, I don't like the medicine."
He had barely looked up.
"Then tell your mom, sweetheart. She handles that stuff."
He remembered saying it.
He remembered how quickly his daughter had gone quiet.
Now she was lying on a hospital bed, terrified that he might be angry with her for telling the truth.
Darius lowered his head.
"I'm sorry I didn't listen."
Nia stared at his hands.
"Mommy says you work too much to understand."
He swallowed.
"I'm listening now."
A long silence passed.
Then Nia whispered, "It wasn't just today."
Darius lifted his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
Her voice was barely audible.
"Sometimes she made me take it even when my tummy already hurt."
Darius looked toward the clear pouch on the counter.
May you like
The bottle wasn't just evidence of what might have happened that morning.
It could explain weeks of things he'd failed to see.
