The magistrate raised her head.

“Sir, your lawyer speaks for you.”

Chloe’s hand rested on the back of mine for a moment.

“Your Honor, both children are under a pediatric release from Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, signed by Dr.

Robert Henderson.

His affidavit is in your file.

The three-year-old went seventy-two hours without fluids.”

The magistrate read that page twice, her lips slightly apart, and I watched her thumb find the line about the fever.