“How can she have any say in where they go?” Dan had never considered himself an especially violent person, but over the course of the past week and a half, he was learning that he could be. He stalked from one corner of the living room to the other, feeling caged. “How the hell can they do this?”
Nora shook her head. She was worried she’d start crying again. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
“And there wasn’t anything we could do,” Dan muttered. “We couldn’t do a single damn thing. . .”
“We can fight against it,” Nora said, “but Kathleen still has the upper hand. She terminated her parental rights to her mother’s sister. It’s nearly impossible to overturn family custody. And. . .” her voice trailed off, wistfully.
“And?” Dan was willing to do anything to overturn Kathleen’s decision. He knew something was wrong, he could feel it. For one thing, he and Nora weren’t allowed to have any contact at all with the boys. That didn’t make sense. For another thing, none of the boys seemed to have heard about this aunt until yesterday. That didn’t make sense. For another thing. . .
“Why would some woman who didn’t intervene before Kathleen tried to stab her kids to death decide to step in and be the good Samaritan now?” Dan demanded, aloud. Because that didn’t make sense either. “Where was she the last time? Where was she from the beginning?”
Nora shook her head. “I don’t like it either,” she agreed. “But if we go against the court order, we could easily lose all chance of ever getting to see the boys again. They’ll think we’re two psychopaths.”
“Nora.” Dan set his jaw and narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on some distant spot outside the window. “You work in the same hospital where Isaac is being treated. He is three floors above you. You’re there from seven to fifteen hours a day, and you can’t even run up and see how he’s doing.”
Instantly he regretted bringing up the subject. Nora’s eyes filled, her voice was strained.
“Dan,” she said. “Do you think I’m not going to spend the entire time I’m there wishing I was with him? Do you think I’m not going to want to run up there to see if he’s all right? Do you think I’m not going to tell myself ‘oh, no one will know if I run up there for five seconds, just to check?’ It’s going to be hell, Dan. And if I do go up there, I could blow the whole thing. I’m not even allowed to be on that floor anymore.”
“I’m sorry. . .” Dan began, but Nora wasn’t finished.
“And you know what? They stopped feeding him intravenously yesterday, so I bet no one will notice whether or not he’s eating. And say someone actually sends up the wrong medication? Would anyone actually question whether or not they should give it to him, if they thought they were supposed to?”
Dan sank down on an armchair. It was Nora’s turn to stalk around the room now.
“And if anything starts going wrong, who’s he going to tell?” Nora bit her lip. “Don’t accuse me of taking this complacently, because I’m not. In fact, I just want to take care of it as quickly as possible, because he doesn’t have a lot of time.”
“You mean he’s going to. . .” Dan began, the color draining from his face.
“No.” Nora shook her head. “No, I don’t mean that. It’s just that so much has happened to him already, and it’s been hell the past week or so, because so much is wrong. And because of that, well. . .” She sat back down on the couch again, slowly. “He’s probably not strong enough to make it through surgery again without major complications. And he wouldn’t be able to fight off an infection, either. And also, he’s alone in the hospital, he has no idea of where Taylor and Zac are or who they’re with, and all day, every day, a whole bunch of people are doing things to him that hurt. . . a lot.” She studied the carpet. “If things get complicated, it could take weeks to overcome this. If we cooperate with them and act like rational people, maybe they’ll listen to what we have to say.”
Dan felt guilty. “How far has being nice ever gotten you?”
Nora’s eyes flashed as she stood up, hands on hips. “In this case, Dan, I’m afraid not to be nice.”