The words from Rebecca still hung in the air between us, heavy with everything that wasn't said. I stared fixedly at the blue headphones around her neck, the identification sticker with Lily's name in her careful seven-year-old letters catching the harsh hospital light, and refused to look away. My eyes burned into that small detail, every inch of it screaming accusations I couldn't ignore.
I took a step, then another, my body moving forward in a straight line toward her without hesitation. The cool tile floor pressed against my shoes, grounding me even as my chest tightened. The corridor stretched out ahead, its fluorescent lights buzzing overhead and casting long shadows that seemed to mock the situation.
Andrew rushed in immediately, stepping between Rebecca and me with his arms outstretched to stop any further movement. His face was pale, and his voice came out urgent. "Don’t."
I stopped short, my gaze shifting from the headphones to his face. "Don’t what?" I asked, my tone cold and even, demanding the explanation I knew he was avoiding.
Rebecca broke down right then, her face twisting in distress as tears spilled freely down her cheeks. "I only borrowed them for a few minutes," she sobbed, her voice rising and falling in broken pieces. "I didn't know the fireworks would start early. The parade was already so loud, and I thought the headphones would help me."
Her words dissolved into more sobs, her hands clutching at her shirt as if she could erase the scene by sheer willpower.
Andrew's expression twisted with the weight of his guilt, his eyes darting around the hallway as if looking for an escape route. He started searching for any excuse that might shield him, his voice coming out rushed and defensive. "She didn’t know the fireworks would start early." He paused, trying to add more. "The parade has fireworks as part of the program every year, and they went off sooner than the schedule said. It was just bad timing, Grace. Nothing that was anyone's fault."
He kept going, his tone gaining speed as he tried to deflect. "I was the one who got her there, and I thought she could handle the noise for a few minutes without the headphones. But the crowd was pushing and the sound hit too fast. You can't blame me for something that happened in that moment."
His excuses tumbled out faster, but I remained completely unmoved, my stare fixed and unyielding, refusing to let them soften the truth.
His attempts didn't work, and he finally turned fully to me, his eyes filled with a desperate mix of anger and fear born from his own failure. "You knew she couldn’t handle crowds like other kids. Why did you let me take her there?" The words landed like a blade, absurd and cutting deep after nine years of marriage. The man who had once cried outside the school for our daughter now threw the blame back at me.
I looked at him, seeing the father who had held Lily, and my voice came out soft and final. "Because you were her father."
The words hung there, simple and devastating, with no room for more.
I shoved him away without hesitation, my hand pressing firmly against his chest and sending him stumbling back. His face showed shock, but I didn't pause. I pushed open the heavy door to the morgue, the metal groaning as it swung inward.
The cool air rushed out, carrying the faint scent of antiseptic and finality. I stepped inside, the door closing behind me with a heavy thud that cut off the world outside. I turned the lock on the inside, the click isolating us completely. Andrew had been trying to follow, his voice calling out my name in panic from the hallway, but I had locked him out along with the headphones that were soaked in lies.
I stood in the dim room, the white tiles cold under my feet and the overhead light casting a harsh glow over the body lying on the slab. My steps were slow as I walked over to her, the echoes of my shoes filling the quiet space.
I looked at her cold body, and the decision to settle accounts came to me clearly. I would make them pay for their lies and their choices. Whatever it took, I would settle this account.
