I went down the hall and pushed her door open.
She was curled up on her bed, knees to her chest, breathing in short little pulls. Her face looked gray.
“Lily?” I rushed to her. “What’s wrong?”
She looked at me with glassy eyes. “Mom. I can’t keep hiding this from you anymore.”
Every nerve in my body went tight. “Hiding what?”
“What’s wrong?”
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“Mark and I…” She looked away. “Tomorrow… I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.”
“No. Tell me now.”
She shook her head weakly.
I sat with her for almost an hour, rubbing her back while she drifted in and out of sleep, terrified and angry.
Every worst-case scenario I could think of was running through my head. I hated myself for every moment I had second-guessed my own instincts.
“Tomorrow… I’ll tell you everything tomorrow.”
At first light, I made the decision for both of us.
“Get your jacket,” I told her. “We’re going to see a doctor.”
I didn’t tell Mike.
At the hospital, they took Lily back for blood work, vitals, and questions.
I sat in the waiting area, twisting a tissue to shreds while every moment of the last month replayed in my head. Her saying she felt weird. Mike telling me not to overreact. The closed-door talks.
It was all pointing to something I wasn’t sure I had the strength to face.
Every moment of the last month replayed in my head.
When the doctor finally came in, his expression was careful.
He sat down across from us. Lily was beside me, trembling. “Mrs. R., we need to talk. The test results showed some… unexpected findings.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mom, this is what I wanted to tell you last night…” Lily said. “Please… don’t be mad at me.”
The doctor handed me a folder with Lily’s test results.
The moment I saw the first words on the paper, I clapped my hand over my mouth in shock.
“The test results showed some… unexpected findings.”
“Severe dehydration?” I read aloud. “A significant electrolyte imbalance?”
The doctor glanced at Lily, then back at me. “We also found evidence that she’s been taking a strong supplement that’s generally marketed for weight control.”
For a second, I honestly didn’t understand the sentence.
“What supplements?” I asked.
Lily looked at her hands. “It’s just a herbal thing. He said they were safe.”
“He? Lily, where did you get them?”
“It’s just a herbal thing. He said they were safe.”
