I also need to bring in the social services team as part of our standard safety protocols.”

Sawyer looked up, his brow furrowed. “Social services?” he asked, not quite following the gravity of it.

The doctor offered no empty platitudes or sugarcoated reassurances. She spoke with the practiced patience of someone who dealt with this exact nightmare daily.

“When a child presents with an injury that clearly contradicts the reported story of a simple fall, we have a legal and ethical obligation to look further,” she explained.

Gracie squeezed her father’s fingers, her voice barely a whisper as she stared at the white floor tiles. “I did fall—but only because Mom shoved me,” she repeated, her eyes filling with tears again.

Sawyer felt the room begin to shrink around him.