My son and his wife asked me to watch their two-month-old baby while they went shopping. But no matter how I held him or tried to calm him, he kept crying uncontrollably. I immediately sensed something was wrong. When I lifted his clothes to check his diaper… I froze. There was something there… something unimaginable. My hands started shaking. I grabbed him and rushed straight to the hospital.

“Why are you so sure?”

Her answer came out in a whisper.

“Because… Noah already had that bruise yesterday.”

For a second I forgot how to breathe.

“You saw it yesterday?”

“Yes.”

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

“We didn’t think it was—” she stammered. “We thought maybe it was just… a mark. Or a birthmark. Or something from the diaper.”

Her words were coming too quickly, colliding with each other.

Then she said something else.

Something that made the hair on the back of my neck rise.

“It wasn’t that dark yesterday.”

The room around me went very cold.

If the bruise had worsened today…

If it had deepened…

If something had happened after she first noticed it…

I gripped the edge of the waiting room chair.

“Who else was alone with Noah today before I got there?”

Nothing.

Just breath.

“Megan?”

When she finally answered, her voice was barely audible.

“…the nanny.”

The word seemed to reverberate.

My heart skipped.

“You hired a nanny?”

Daniel came back on the phone.

“Just part-time,” he said quickly. “Only a few hours in the mornings. Megan hasn’t been sleeping. It was supposed to be temporary.”

“When did this start?”

“About two weeks ago.”

I pressed my free hand to my forehead.

“And today? Was she with Noah before I arrived?”

Daniel hesitated. Just long enough to confirm every bad thought.

“Yes.”

“How long?”

“About an hour. Megan had a postpartum checkup.”

I closed my eyes.

“Daniel, did you ever notice anything off about her?”

“No. She seemed fine. Great, actually. Calm. Professional. Excellent references.”

“What’s her name?”