“I already told you it’s nothing important.”
I couldn’t sleep that night.
Emma’s scary face kept appearing in my mind. I remembered how she had held on to me by begging me not to let her father bathe her.
The next morning I saw a red mark on his back.
“What is this?” I asked.
Daniel didn’t even look at me.
“He probably scratched himself while playing.”
“Didn’t you see him last night when you bathed her?”
“No.”
He quickly picked up the keys and left the house. That’s when I felt real fear.
During the day I called our pediatrician. The receptionist told me that we had not gone to the consultation in the last few weeks. I asked him if Daniel had called, but he replied that he could not give me that information.
When I returned home that night, I had already decided that I would bathe Emma myself.
“Tonight I will,” I said as I took the towel.
Daniel stood before me.
“No, Laura.”
His voice was calm, but his face was tense.
“She is also my daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then step away.”
“I can’t.”
I looked into him in the eye and whispered:
“What are you hiding from me?”
Daniel got pale. For a moment I thought you’d tell me everything. But then he took Emma in his arms and took her to the bathroom.
This time closed the door with key from the inside.
A few moments later, my daughter started crying.
“It hurts, Dad…”
Then I heard the voice of Daniel:
“I know, sweetheart. Hold on a little longer. Mom still can’t know.”
My heart was about to stop.
What happened next is in the comments.
