Do you understand your professional liability?”

Silence on the line. Miller wasn’t stupid. His lazy dismissal was now documented, and it conflicted with unassailable medical reality. His tone went from defensive to submission.

“I’ll update the report immediately, Agent Thorne. I’ve already dispatched a sergeant to secure the premises and photograph the scene.”

I pushed back into the trauma room. The IV was finally putting color in Dad’s cheeks. He reached out with trembling, bruised fingers and pulled me close until his face was inches from mine.

“Don’t take me back to that house, Claudia.” His voice cracked, barely audible over the heart monitor. “They locked me in the guest room for days. They turned off the water.

They wanted me to sign papers I couldn’t even read without my glasses.”