Chapter 8 - ISOLDE THINKS SHE CAUSED IT
Dr. Mallory examined Isolde again after a week.
No new structural damage.
Brace fit corrected.
Therapy resumed.
Strength slightly reduced from missed sessions.
Recoverable.
That was the medical part.
The psychological part was harder.
Isolde asked:
“If I walk better, can Grandma come home?”
I looked at her.
“What?”
“She got kicked out because I fell.”
“No.”
“She said if I wasn’t weak, nothing happens.”
There.
Children build causation from whatever adults give them.
I crouched.
“Grandma left because of choices Grandma made.”
“What choices?”
“She took your brace. She moved your room. She made rules she had no right to make.”
“If I didn’t need brace—”
“No.”
I stopped.
Then softened.
“You needing help did not cause her behavior.”
Isolde stared at me.
“Are braces bad?”
“No.”
“Grandma says heirs don’t wear them.”
“Grandma is wrong.”
“What’s heir?”
I almost laughed.
A ridiculous word for a six-year-old.
“Someone people expect to inherit something later.”
“Do I?”
“Maybe.”
“What?”
“Hopefully my terrible taste in suits.”
She rolled her eyes.
Good.
Then:
“Do I have to?”
May you like
“No.”
That mattered.
