Chapter 2 - The Fracture and the Lie
The X-ray results confirmed what I feared: Nora had sustained a clean greenstick fracture in her left radius. While the doctor placed a temporary splint on her arm and prepared a pink fiberglass cast, my phone began ringing incessantly in my pocket.
It was Claire.
I stepped outside the exam room into the quiet hallway and answered.
"Where on earth are you, Mark?!" Claire's voice shrilled through the speaker, laced with manic panic dressed as annoyance. "My staff is whispering, my three o'clock client walked out, and you left me standing in front of my clinic like a lunatic! Bring Nora back right now so I can fix her arm and clear this mess up!"
"We're at the urgent care center on 5th Avenue, Claire," I said, my voice deadpan and icy cold. "She has a broken wrist."
A sharp intake of breath whistled over the line. "A... a fracture? Mark, listen to me, children fall all the time. She probably exaggerated how high she climbed—"
"I have the registration form you filled out, Claire," I interrupted.
Silence stretched over the line. Cold, heavy, and incriminating.
"You wrote that my daughter suffers from self-inflicted injuries," I continued, every word dripping with fury. "You tried to lock down medical authority over her behind my back. Why?"
"Mark, don't be hysterical," Claire stammered, her composure breaking. "I'm a licensed physical therapist and wellness director! I know how insurance liability works! If she got hurt on my clinic property, my license could be suspended! I did that to protect our family's financial future!"
May you like
"No," I said, tears of anger stinging my eyes. "You did it to protect yourself. Do not come near my daughter again."
I hung up and blocked her number.
