I stared at the image.
It was the metal cabinet in the garage that Luca had always called his cleaning cabinet. I had never paid attention to what was inside it.
“I don’t know,” I said. “He keeps the garage organized. I never go through his things.”
“That’s okay.”
She didn’t pressure me.
“Do you know why he might have had a bottle of industrial cleaner in there?”
“No.”
“Did you ever see him use it around the house?”
“No.”
“Did he ever tell you to stay away from the cabinet?”
I thought about it.
“Once. A long time ago. He said some of the chemicals were dangerous.”
Detective Hall wrote that down.
Then she asked the question that hurt more than the others.
“When did he first tell you the scrape was getting worse?”
“The second day.”
“And when did he first change the dressing himself?”
“That same night.”
The detective looked at me.
“Did he ever encourage you to see a doctor?”
I shook my head.
“He kept saying tomorrow.”
She nodded once.
“And every time you wanted to look at the wound?”
“He told me not to touch the tape.”
The room became very quiet.
I suddenly understood why the words on his text had frightened everyone so much.
Don’t tell them about what I put on your leg.
It wasn’t just that he had known what he had put there.
It was that I had never told him the doctor was asking.
Detective Hall placed my phone back on the bedside table after photographing the messages.
“You did the right thing by leaving.”
I closed my eyes.
I hadn’t felt brave when I ordered the cab.
I had felt terrified.
I had been holding the wall because I could barely walk.
I had been afraid that if Luca caught me leaving, he would make me stay.
But now, lying under the hospital lights with an IV in my arm, I realized something else.
For the first time in seven days, I had made a decision without asking him whether I was allowed to make it.
A nurse came in to tell me that the doctors were preparing additional treatment for the infection and the chemical injury. The next several hours would be important, and they wanted to keep me under close observation.
I nodded.
Then my phone vibrated again.
Detective Hall looked at the screen without touching it.
Another message from Luca.
I KNOW YOU’RE WITH THE POLICE.
A second message followed.
YOU’RE MAKING A HUGE MISTAKE.
Then another.
I WAS TRYING TO HELP YOU.
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