Every time my brother-in-law drove me home, I would lose consciousness and wake up with unexplained aches and pains. My husband would only laugh and say, “You’re just out of shape, that’s all.” After the fourth ride, I secretly slipped a voice recorder into my purse and said nothing. That night, I listened to a phone conversation between the two of them that revealed my blackouts had never been accidental.

Its current use is part of what we’re establishing.”

I remembered the painful stiffness in my back.

Dr.

Alvarez had told me that bruises could have multiple explanations and that the appearance of an injury alone could not prove how it occurred.

I had clung to that uncertainty as a shield.

But my husband had said the words don’t leave any marks.

He had known there might be marks.

It was becoming harder to believe that I had slept awkwardly in a car.