"You've already called the ambulance. There's no one else you need to call or text right now."
"You have plenty of time to clean up before they arrive!"
But.
I'd never said Dick touched the toy on purpose.
I exhaled slowly.
When I spoke again, my voice was more urgent.
"Mom, I'm not joking."
"Lily fell asleep after the long car ride. She never even saw the toy."
"You're right that Dick would never play with it. But he slipped and fell. That's how he made contact."
"I'm doing chest compressions right now. I literally cannot take my hands off him to mop."
"Please believe me. I would never joke about something like this."
Every word out of my mouth was dead serious. There wasn't a shred of humor in my voice, and Kate knew it. She knew me well enough to know I never lied, and on something this grave, I had no reason to make things up.
Kate hesitated. Visibly.
But I knew exactly what kind of person she was. Her favorite pastime was contradicting me, so I pressed on before she could dig in.
"How about this: you open the door, come in and see for yourself. While you're at it, you can tidy up the room so nobody has anything to gossip about, and it won't delay getting Dick the help he needs."