Chapter 7 - The Frozen Vaults
When I returned to St. Michael's Hospital, Lily was sitting up in bed eating pancakes with sliced strawberries. Noah was sleeping peacefully in a hospital bassinet, his breathing rhythmic and clean.
"Daddy!" Lily beamed, dropping her plastic fork as I walked into the room.
I wrapped my arms around her, kissing her forehead. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"
"My back doesn't hurt as much," she whispered, leaning into my shoulder. "The nurse gave me warm medicine. Daddy... is Mommy mad at me?"
My heart ached at the conditioning she had endured, but my voice remained calm and reassuring.
"No, baby. You did nothing wrong. You were the bravest girl in the world, and you saved your brother. You will never, ever have to be afraid in our house again."
At 11:00 a.m., Dr. Martinez officially signed the discharge papers, certifying that Lily's muscle strain was recovering well and Noah's vitals had normalized.
As we walked out to my truck, my phone rang. It was Arthur Pendelton, the senior family law attorney I had retained at dawn.
"Daniel," Pendelton said. "Judge Katherine Moore of the Family Court just signed an Emergency Ex Parte Custody Order. You have sole legal and physical custody of both Lily and Noah. Claire's visitation rights are completely suspended pending criminal trial, and a permanent five-hundred-foot protective order has been served on Diane Miller."
"Have they posted bail?" I asked.
May you like
"Marcus Vale's bail was denied by the federal magistrate due to flight risk. Diane was granted a $50,000 bond, but she has no assets to post it. Claire's bail hearing is set for tomorrow morning, and the prosecutor is requesting remand without bail based on the flight plans to Switzerland we submitted."
"Good," I said, buckling Lily into her booster seat and securing Noah's car seat. "Let the law run its course."
