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.’

“Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t like keeping secrets.”

I knelt in front of him and held his face between my hands.

“You don’t ever have to. Not for me. Not for anyone.”

He nodded.

In the rearview mirror, as we drove home, I saw something I hadn’t seen in weeks.

Relief.

The truth had been ugly. It had changed everything.

But my son would never again carry the weight of someone else’s lie.

And that was worth every shattered illusion.