both the abuse itself and the attempted cover story at the hospital.
The recordings, played in full during the protective order hearing, left little room for the kind of doubt Grady had spent years cultivating in me about my own memory and perception. Judge Elena Ferris granted a full protective order covering myself and all three children, along with temporary sole custody pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings.
“I want to be direct with you,” Judge Ferris said, addressing me directly after reviewing the recordings, “because I don’t think you’ve heard this nearly enough over these past months: nothing that happened to you was ever about anything you did or failed to do. The pattern documented in this evidence describes deliberate, sustained cruelty, not a reasonable response to any genuine failing on your part.”
I cried again, hearing that—a different kind of crying than the fear and grief of
