The legal aid clinic sat on the second floor of an old brick building near the county courthouse.
The waiting room smelled of stale coffee and damp coats, and the vinyl chairs were worn down to the foam at the corners.
I sat stiffly in one of the orange chairs, holding my small folder of papers against my lap.
A young legal assistant named Sarah called my name and led me into a cubicle that had three tall stacks of folders on the floor.
She looked at my medical bill of four thousand eight hundred dollars, then at the printed photograph Dr. Mercer had taken of my back.
“The doctor noted a distinct pressure mark,” Sarah said, pointing to the dark shadow near my shoulder blade.
“My mother-in-law pushed me down the basement stairs,” I said.
“And your husband was there?” Sarah asked.
“He saw it happen,” I said.
“But he told the hospital I slipped on some spilled water,” I said.
Sarah wrote something down on a yellow legal pad, her pen making a sharp scratching sound.
“Did he sign the intake forms at the hospital?” she asked.
“He did,” I said.
“He was trying to keep his mother out of trouble,” I said.
“We need to discuss your financial options,” Sarah said, looking up from her pad.
“Have you tried to access your joint savings account to pay this bill?” she asked.
“I tried to log in from Vera’s computer this morning,” I said.
“The system said my password was incorrect,” I said.
Sarah did not look surprised.
“Did you call the bank?” she asked.
“I did,” I said.
“They said the account was locked by the primary holder,” I said.
“That is Graham,” Sarah said.
“He told me he wanted to make sure we did not spend our savings on unnecessary fees,” I said.
“He is trying to control your choices,” Sarah said.
“We can file an emergency petition to freeze his ability to move those funds, but it will take at least three weeks to get a court date,” she said.
She slid a three-page form across the desk toward me.
“If I sign this, does he get notified?” I asked.
“The court will send him a copy of the petition on Friday,” Sarah said.
“I need to know my options before he gets that paper,” I said.
“The sheriff’s department will also want to see these medical records,” Sarah said, tapping the photo of the pressure mark.
I looked at the blue ink of her pen, thinking of the four thousand eight hundred dollars I could not pay.
“I will sign the authorization,” I said.
By six o’clock, the rain had stopped, and the headlights of Graham’s car swept across the living room window.
Vera was in the kitchen, her paper cup sitting on the counter while she stirred a pot of soup.
Graham did not wait for me to open the door, he let himself in and stood on the small rug by the entryway.
He was wearing his brown winter coat, and he held a long white envelope in his hand.
“My mother wanted me to give you this,” Graham said, his voice quiet.
“I told you I did not want to hear from her,” I said.
Graham pressed his palms together flat, his shoulders rising as he took a breath.
“It is just a letter, Nora,” he said.
“She wrote out what happened, to explain the terrible misunderstanding on the stairs,” he said.
“It was not a misunderstanding,” I said.
“She is sixty-three,” Graham said, using his soft, placating tone.
“She was angry about the dinner, and she lost her balance,” he said.
“She did not mean to hurt you,” he added.
I looked at the thick white paper of the envelope, which had my name written on the front in Judith’s sharp, slanted handwriting.
“She wants me to drop the police report,” I said.
“She wants us to be a family again,” Graham said.
“She says in the letter that she will pay the medical bills if we can just talk this through,” he said.
“She locked me out of the savings account, Graham,” I said.
Graham looked down at his shoes, his face turning a dull red.
“That was for our protection,” he said.
“We cannot let some lawyer take everything we saved for the house,” he said.
“You did it because she told you to,” I said.
“She was worried about the legal fees,” Graham said.
“If you just read her letter, you will see she is trying to make things right,” he said.
“I am not opening that envelope,” I said.
