My son and his wife asked me to watch their two-month-old baby while they went shopping. – tamy

My hands started shaking again.

“Doctor,” I whispered, “my son and his wife love that baby. They would never hurt him.”

Dr. Patel’s voice remained calm.

“I understand. But we need to investigate everything.”

Two hours later, Noah was resting in the neonatal unit with a tiny IV in his arm.

The bleeding had been caught early, the doctor said. He was going to recover.

But the bruise…

The bruise still haunted me.

I sat alone in the waiting room when my phone rang.

Daniel.

“Mom,” he said anxiously, “we’re back home. Where are you? Megan’s freaking out because Noah’s gone.”

My throat tightened.

“Daniel,” I said slowly, “I’m at the hospital.”

Silence.

“What?”

“Noah was hurt.”

The panic in his voice was immediate.

“Hurt? What are you talking about?!”

“There’s a bruise on his stomach,” I said. “The doctor says someone squeezed him hard enough to cause internal bleeding.”

There was a long, stunned pause.

Then Daniel said something that made my heart sink.

“That’s impossible.”

“Daniel—”

“No,” he said sharply. “Mom, Megan and I would never—”

“I know that,” I interrupted.

“But someone did.”

Another silence followed.

Then I heard Megan’s voice faintly in the background.

“What’s wrong?”

Daniel whispered something to her.

A second later, Megan grabbed the phone.

Her voice was shaking.

“A bruise?” she said. “That’s not possible.”

My stomach twisted.

“Why are you so sure?” I asked.

Her answer came out in a whisper.

“Because… Noah already had that bruise yesterday.”

My grip tightened on the phone.

“You saw it yesterday?”

“Yes.”

“And you didn’t take him to the hospital?”

“We thought it was just a birthmark forming,” she said quickly.

But something about her voice didn’t sound right.