Chapter 5 - THE BRUISE BENEATH THE CARDIGAN
Natalie left the hospital after Andrew refused to let her remain in Margaret’s room.
She did not apologize.
She did not explain the green pills.
She called an attorney.
Andrew stayed with his mother.
When the nurse helped Margaret change into a hospital gown, more bruises appeared.
One beneath her shoulder.
Another near her elbow.
A narrow mark across her waist where a belt had been tightened around the wheelchair.
Andrew stood outside the curtain.
He heard Dr. Rowan ask how the injuries happened.
Margaret remained silent.
“Mrs. Wilson, you are safe here.”
“I don’t want Andrew hurt.”
Andrew closed his eyes.
The curtain opened.
Margaret looked smaller in the hospital bed than she had in the storage room.
He sat beside her.
“Mom, what did Natalie threaten to do?”
Margaret touched his hand.
“She said you would lose everything.”
“I don’t care about the house.”
“She said you would lose the company.”
“I don’t care about that either.”
“She said you would lose her.”
Andrew could not answer as quickly.
Margaret noticed.
That was why the threat had worked.
Natalie understood that Andrew loved his mother.
But she also understood that he believed his marriage was safe.
Margaret had feared that speaking would force him to choose.
“Mom, I’m sorry I made you think silence was the only way to keep me.”
“You were happy.”
“I was unaware.”
Those were not the same thing.
Margaret described the first time Natalie locked her away.
Andrew had hosted investors at the mansion.
Margaret accidentally spilled tea because her hands were trembling.
Natalie wheeled her into the storage room.
She said Margaret embarrassed the family.
The door remained unlocked that night.
Later, Natalie began locking it.
Whenever Andrew traveled, the periods became longer.
Food became less frequent.
Medication became stronger.
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“Natalie took my phone.”
“I bought you another one.”
“She took that too.”
Andrew remembered Natalie explaining that Margaret misplaced devices.
Every loss had sounded reasonable alone.
Together, they formed a prison.
Dr. Rowan entered with the cognitive assessment.
Margaret knew the date.
The city.
The president.
The names of her doctors.
She remembered every detail of the storage room.
Her memory was not perfect.
But she was competent.
Dr. Rowan placed the false reports beside the new assessment.
“These two descriptions do not belong to the same patient.”
Andrew looked at the signature.
Dr. Simon Keats.
He called the number in the file.
It had been disconnected.
May you like
Then he searched the state medical registry.
No physician named Simon Keats had ever been licensed in Georgia.
