to him.
Dahlia looked at the floor.
The judge reviewed the evidence and issued emergency protections that kept Anna from returning to the Higgins home.
Ronald received sole physical custody while the broader proceedings continued.
Contact with the people involved in the incident was restricted under court supervision.
The order did not heal Anna.
It did something more immediate.
It made “no” official.
No, she did not have to return to the house.
No, the family could not collect her from school.
No, Dahlia could not dismiss the incident as a misunderstanding and take her back behind the same closed curtain.
Anna left the hospital weeks later in a wheelchair with one leg stabilized and both arms still healing.
Ronald pushed her through the automatic doors into bright afternoon light.
She flinched when a pickup truck started in the parking lot.
He stopped walking.
He did not tell her there
