Page 2 of Hush

Elise realized the school nurse must have informed him.

We don’t know yet, she replied.We’re at the hospital now.

I told you that school was understaffed. Some kid probably pushed him.

Tightness gathered up inside her, making her feel small and hard.Leave it to Garrett to start a fight.

“It hurts, Mama,” Jaden whimpered.

Elise turned off the ringer on her phone, then pulled Jaden close. “I know,mon chou,” she said, using the word her grandmother used to call her as a child, the same Elise had been using for Jaden since he was born.

The door opened, and a tall man in a white coat stepped into the room. He was young, Elise thought, with thick brown hair and a trimmed beard. He reached to the wall mount of hand sanitizer, then rubbed his hands with a dose. “Hi there,” he said with a smile, his bright eyes washing over her and Jaden. He stepped close to shake Elise’s hand. Beneath his white coat, he wore a blue button-down dress shirt, navy-blue tie, and gray slacks. Nothing fancy but for a farm town turned wine hub like Walla Walla, definitely dressier than the other staff. He grabbed the black vinyl-covered stool from under the desk, then tucked it under himself.

He glided the stool closer. “How are you doin’, buddy?” the doctor asked Jaden.

Jaden didn’t answer.

“You want to jump up here or stay with Mom?” he asked, tapping the exam table.

Jaden leaned into Elise.

“Okay,” Dr. Parker said, scooting his stool to a new angle so he could access Jaden’s arm. “I just want to have a look, then we can put the brace back on if you want. Sound good?” He eyed Jaden for acknowledgement, then gently lifted his arm from his side and released the Velcro straps. The brace opened to reveal a swollen wrist and the beginning of a dark blue bruise. The doctor felt along Jaden’s arm, asked him to wiggle his fingers, to tell him where it hurt. Jaden pointed to his wrist. Elise watched the doctor, relieved to know someone so confident was in charge.

“Okay. You ready for the plan?” Dr. Parker asked, eyeing Elise. “First, we’re going to take special pictures of your bones, then we’re going to get you fitted with a better brace. You even get to pick the color,” he added, giving Jaden a wink.

“Will it hurt?” Jaden asked.

“The pictures?” the doctor asked. “A little,” he said, his forehead tightening. “But it’ll be over fast, I promise.”

The doctor sat up, glancing at Elise. “Can he have a lollipop?”

Elise felt herself soften. “Sure,” she replied.

Dr. Parker grinned. Seeing him so at ease calmed her anxiety, and she could actually feel her shoulders relax. He pulled a yellow sucker from the pocket of his coat, then placed it in Elise’s hand. “I’ll see you back here in a bit.”

The most difficult part about the X-ray was separating from Jaden. He looked so scared in the dark, cold space, with the machine looming over him. The technician permitted her to watch from the little booth. Each time she had to reposition for a new image, Elise was there to hold and reassure him. And then it was over. Elise carried Jaden back to the exam room. By now, darkness was creeping across the landscape, visible through the window behind the two chairs. Her stomach rumbled.

“The nurse says you fell off the climbing web,” Elise said, settling into the chair again. “Is that what happened?”

Jaden was back to playing with the hem of her skirt, a heather-blue wool she was finally able to fit back into. When a woman discovers her husband has plunged them deep into debt and slept with an old flame from high school at a class reunion, activities like exercise and eating vegetables sort of go out the window. But that was behind her now. Garrett was behind her now. Or, at least, that was what she told herself every day.

“I got to the top,” he said, shrugging.

“Good for you,” Elise said, rubbing his back. Being the smaller, more timid kid in his class meant that little challenges like this were big for him.

“It was time to go in, and…and I don’t know, I was hanging, then I couldn’t hold on.” He sighed a big breath.

“It’s okay,” Elise said. “You’ve been so brave today.”

“Is Daddy coming?” Jaden asked.

Elise’s heart clenched. “No, honey.”

“Oh,” Jaden said, the disappointment clear in his voice.

“But when we finish here, you can call him.”

Jaden fiddled with the hem of her skirt again. Elise was used to his need to always be touching something, always have his hands busy. It drove Garrett nuts—when Jaden was smaller, Garrett mistook this for some kind of predisposition for athletic skill. He’d spent hours introducing Jaden to soccer, baseball, and basketball. But Jaden had more interest in building forts in the woods or asking questions about how trees grew than playing sports. Elise knew Garrett would keep trying. His latest crusade was swimming, and though Jaden liked the water, he always got too cold in the pool. Elise imagined a checklist existed somewhere in Garrett’s head: age seven: swimming; age ten, speed skating.

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