Chapter 4 - The House Without Us
Sophie was admitted for overnight observation shortly before ten.
Rebecca arrived twenty minutes later.
She came through the door fast, stopped when she saw Sophie's face, and covered her mouth with one hand.
"Oh my God."
Sophie watched her carefully.
Rebecca crossed the room more slowly.
"Can I hug you?"
Sophie nodded.
Rebecca hugged her from the left side.
Then she looked at me.
"Rachel told me there was barely any swelling."
I said nothing.
Rebecca's eyes filled with anger.
"She told me you were exaggerating because you had not slept."
"I haven't slept."
"That doesn't make this imaginary."
I showed her the kitchen recording.
She watched once.
Then again.
On the second viewing, she noticed the same thing I had.
"She checked the doorway."
"Yes."
"Before she checked Sophie."
"Yes."
Rebecca looked sick.
"Daniel, she called me seven minutes after you left the house."
"What did she say exactly?"
Rebecca pulled out her phone.
"I wrote some of it down after I realized the stories kept changing."
She opened her notes.
"First she said Sophie fell against the table after spilling soup."
I stared at her.
"She never told me that version."
"Then she said Sophie was emotional from medication and accused her of hitting her."
"Then?"
"Then she said you arrived, started shouting, grabbed Sophie, and shoved past her."
"Did she mention a camera?"
Rebecca nodded.
"She said the kitchen camera was broken and you were threatening to fake footage somehow."
I almost laughed again.
The lie was becoming too elaborate to carry its own weight.
Rebecca sat down.
"Why would she think the camera was broken?"
"Because the app stopped showing it on the kitchen tablet months ago."
"But it still recorded?"
"The tablet lost connection."
"She didn't know that?"
"Apparently not."
Rebecca looked at Sophie.
"Thank God."
Sophie was silent.
I noticed she had begun twisting the hospital blanket around her fingers.
"What is it?"
She shook her head.
"Sweetheart, you can say it."
"Rachel turned off the other camera."
Rebecca and I looked at each other.
"The hallway camera?"
Sophie nodded.
"How do you know?"
"I saw her with the little stool."
My skin went cold.
"When?"
"After you left."
"You were in the car with me after I left."
Sophie blinked.
"Not tonight."
I leaned forward.
"When did you see her turn it off?"
"Before surgery."
"How long before?"
She thought about it.
"The day Grandma brought cookies."
Rebecca straightened.
"That was three weeks ago."
I remembered the day.
My mother had visited in the afternoon.
Sophie had been tired after a seizure and slept for most of it.
Rachel had complained that the hallway camera kept sending useless motion alerts.
I had told her I would fix the notification settings later.
Apparently she had found another solution.
"What did she do with the stool?"
"She stood on it and opened the little cover."
"Did you see what happened next?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Sophie hesitated.
"She saw me."
"What did she say?"
"She asked why I was spying on her."
Rebecca whispered a curse under her breath.
I looked toward Melissa, who had returned to the room.
She was taking notes.
"Did she do anything after asking that?"
Sophie nodded.
"She took my tablet."
I remembered that too.
Rachel had told me Sophie lost tablet privileges because she had refused to do homework.
I had supported the punishment.
The shame of it hit me so hard that I had to look away.
Sophie noticed.
"Daddy?"
"I'm okay."
"You're making the face."
"What face?"
"The one when you think you did something wrong."
Rebecca looked at me.
I could not pretend.
"I should have asked you what happened."
Sophie shrugged softly.
"She already told you."
"That isn't the same as me asking you."
Her eyes dropped.
"I thought you believed her more."
There are sentences parents remember for the rest of their lives.
That became one of mine.
I moved closer without touching her injured side.
"I am sorry."
She nodded but did not tell me it was okay.
I was grateful she did not.
Some things should not be forgiven quickly because an adult wants relief.
Rebecca changed the subject gently.
"You can both stay with me as long as you need."
Sophie finally looked up.
"Can I bring my rabbit?"
"Your rabbit can have his own room if he wants."
A small smile appeared.
Then my phone vibrated.
Rachel.
I did not answer the call.
A voicemail arrived.
Then another.
Grant had told me to save everything, so I opened the first and put it on speaker at low volume.
Rachel's voice was calm.
"Daniel, I need you to stop making decisions while you are upset."
She sounded like the reasonable person in a commercial for conflict resolution.
"I have spoken with a lawyer because I am worried about your state of mind."
Rebecca's eyebrows rose.
"I am not trying to punish you."
"I am trying to protect Sophie from being dragged through an unnecessary investigation while she is recovering."
The message ended.
The second began thirty seconds later.
"Also, do not access the home camera system again."
My pulse changed.
"It is marital property, and I do not consent to you distributing private recordings from inside our home."
Rebecca whispered.
"She knows you saved it."
The voicemail continued.
"If you send footage to anyone, my attorney will address it."
The recording ended.
I looked at Melissa.
"Does that matter?"
"The police already have the clip."
"I mean legally."
"I can't give legal advice."
Rebecca leaned toward me.
"Call Mark."
Mark Ellison was a family-law attorney I knew through work.
I had never imagined calling him about my own marriage.
I sent him a message asking whether he could speak in the morning.
He replied within five minutes.
Call me now.
I stepped into the hallway.
Mark listened without interrupting for almost seven minutes.
Then he asked one question.
"Is Rachel Sophie's legal parent in any way?"
"No."
"Adoption?"
"No."
"Guardianship?"
"No."
"Then she has no independent custody right to Sophie."
I breathed a little easier.
"But she filed a domestic violence complaint against me."
"That can affect the house and contact between you and Rachel, but not create parental rights she does not have."
"What should I do tonight?"
"Stay at the hospital."
"Tomorrow?"
"Do not go home alone."
"Why?"
"Because after a false allegation, you do not give the other person an unrecorded encounter."
I leaned against the wall.
"She said I can't access the cameras."
"Do not alter anything."
"Can I preserve footage?"
"Preserve what already exists and give copies to police through proper channels."
"What if she deletes it?"
Mark paused.
"Can the system log deletions?"
"I think so."
"Find out without changing the account."
I opened the camera app while still on the call.
The kitchen camera was now offline too.
I felt my stomach turn.
"Mark."
"What?"
"The kitchen camera just went offline."
"Screenshot the status."
I did.
"Do not log out."
"Why?"
"If she changes the password, your current session may be the only access you have to the cloud archive."
I returned to the archive.
The soup incident was still there.
The hallway footage was still there.
Then I noticed a small icon next to the kitchen folder.
Pending deletion.
"Mark, there is a deletion request."
"For what?"
I opened it.
The request was not for one clip.
May you like
It was for the entire last thirty days of kitchen recordings.
