The bathroom door slammed against the wall before Caleb could bring the plastic cup any closer to Lily’s face.
Emily crossed the pink-and-white tile in two strides. She caught Caleb’s wrist, forced his hand down, and took the cup from him. The wooden shelf rattled when she set it down.
“Move away from her.”
Caleb remained crouched beside the bathtub, an unmarked brown bottle clenched in his other hand.
Five-year-old Lily sat fully wrapped in her lavender bathrobe, wet hair stuck to her cheeks and her teddy bear crushed against her chest. She reached toward Emily with trembling fingers.
Emily stepped between them and took her daughter’s hand.
“Mommy,” Lily whispered. “I didn’t play it right.”
Emily’s stomach turned.
“What game?”
Caleb stood slowly. “You’re frightening her.”
“Give me the bottle.”
“It’s something to help her settle down.”
“Prescribed by whom?”
He forced the same reassuring smile he used with neighbors, teachers, and anyone who thought he was the patient father carrying more than his share.
“You’ve been complaining that she won’t sleep.”
“I asked you who prescribed it.”
Caleb’s thumb moved over the bottle as if he could hide what was already missing: the pharmacy label had been peeled away.
Emily pulled out her phone and began recording.
His smile disappeared.
“Turn that off.”
“Tell me what you’ve been giving our daughter.”
Caleb reached toward the phone, then stopped when Emily raised it higher.
Lily moved behind her mother and gripped the back of her shirt.
“Daddy says it makes me good,” she whispered.
Caleb’s face tightened. “She doesn’t understand what she’s saying.”
Emily looked at the cup, the hidden bottle, and the kitchen timer sitting beside the folded towels.
Then she looked into the camera.
“It’s 8:43 p.m. Caleb is in the bathroom with our five-year-old daughter and an unlabeled medicine bottle. Lily is crying. I’m taking her to the hospital.”
Caleb blocked the doorway.
“You’re not turning this into one of your scenes.”
Emily wrapped Lily in a dry towel, lifted her against her chest, and stared at the man she had trusted for nine years.
“Get out of my way.”
This time, he did.
