Every word out of my mouth was dead serious. There wasn't a shred of humor in my voice, and Kate knew it. She knew me well enough to know I never lied, and on something this grave, I had no reason to make things up.
Kate hesitated. Visibly.
But I knew exactly what kind of person she was. Her favorite pastime was contradicting me, so I pressed on before she could dig in.
"How about this: you open the door, come in and see for yourself. While you're at it, you can tidy up the room so nobody has anything to gossip about, and it won't delay getting Dick the help he needs."
That had actually been Kate's plan.
But the moment I was the one to suggest it, she rejected it without a second thought.
"Absolutely not."
"Everyone online says mothers-in-law need to respect boundaries. You're not supposed to barge in on a married couple's private life. That's why I haven't even dared set foot inside!"
I rolled my eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn't get stuck.
Back when Dick and I first got married, I hadn't been planning on having children yet. It was Kate who snuck into our room and tampered with things, which led to my unplanned pregnancy. Because I hadn't been taking prenatal vitamins or preparing my body, I was afraid the baby might be affected and wanted to terminate. Kate threw a fit, threatening to kill herself if I went through with the abortion. Then when Lily was born with hearing problems, Kate turned around and blamed me.
But I didn't argue any of that. Instead, I kept offering solutions.
"Okay, then how about this."
"Turn off the signal jammer. I'll take a photo and send it to you so you can see for yourself that it's Dick who got electrocuted."
Kate scoffed.
"These days they've got AI that can fake photos. You're obviously trying to trick me."
"Besides, what if I turn off the jammer and you start calling everyone under the sun? People will come barging in, see this house looking like a disaster zone, and laugh at us. Then what?"
"Why do you have to be so stubborn?"
"It's not that complicated. Just have Dick do that CPR thing or whatever, and you go clean up the room yourself. Problem solved."
"And don't think you can sweet-talk me into turning off that jammer. I'm staying right here by the door, listening. Once I hear you've gotten everything tidied up in there, I'll open it."
I opened my mouth to try again.
But the ambulance had already arrived. And it wasn't just the paramedics. Neighbors had gathered too, a whole crowd of them craning their necks for a front-row seat to the spectacle.
Kate muttered something about them getting here too fast.
Then she walked out to the yard.
I stopped doing chest compressions and moved to the window, pressing close to the glass, watching.
Just in time to see Kate throw both arms wide, blocking the paramedics' path.
"What do you think you're doing? This is my home. Are you trying to trespass?"
The paramedics looked stunned. Clearly, they'd never had someone physically stop them before.
"Didn't someone from this address call to report an electrocution? Cardiac arrest? Did we get the wrong house?"
Kate nodded firmly.
"Yes, wrong house. Everyone here is perfectly fine. Nobody's sick. Now get out of here before the neighbors have even more to gossip about!"
I'd lived through this exact scene once before.
The first time, my throat had seized up, and Dick had been right there beside me, holding me back.
"Maisie, stop making a scene. If you start screaming now, how is Mom supposed to show her face around here? When we're not home, the neighbors will never let her live it down."
"Mom's just joking around. She'll let them in any minute."
He'd held me back so tightly I couldn't make a sound.
But this time, no one was holding me back.
So I leaned out the window and screamed at the top of my lungs.
"Help! Someone's been electrocuted! I've been doing CPR for ages, but I'm not strong enough. It's barely doing anything. Please, you have to get in here!"
"Mom, stop this! A man's life is at stake! This isn't the time to pick fights with me!"
