I Went to the Hospital to Care for My Son After He Broke His Leg – Then the Nurse Slipped Me a Note, ‘He’s Lying. Check the Camera at 3 a.m.’

“Right,” Jasper nodded quickly. “Scooter. I was outside. You slipped. That’s what we tell Mom.”

“But Dad… I don’t want to lie to Mom.”

I felt something crack inside my chest.

“We have to,” Jasper said, sharper now. “Your mom can’t know I wasn’t there. She’ll overreact.”

Wasn’t there?

“But you just went to the store,” Howard said. “Kelly was there…”

Kelly shifted. “Your mom doesn’t know about me yet. Remember?”

Jasper lowered his voice. “We’re keeping things simple. You don’t say I wasn’t there. You don’t say Kelly went inside. You don’t say you were doing a trick. We stick to the story.”

“But I tried the curb jump,” Howard whispered. “Kelly wasn’t watching. She was getting her phone.”

Kelly stepped forward. “I was inside for a second. You were fine.”

Jasper waved it off. “We’re not doing this. We stick to the story. Okay?”

A long pause.

“Okay,” Howard said softly.