THE CAMERA ABOVE THE RUG

“Check the camera,” I said.

Serena’s hand dropped from her tie. She looked up at the corner, then back at me.

“Is there a camera?”

Laura followed my finger. “What camera?”

“The white one,” I said. “Its lens is pointed right at the rug.”

Leo cried again. Laura reached for him, then stopped when a piece of glass shifted beneath her heel.

“Don’t move him yet,” I said. “Let me clear a path.”

“Don’t touch him,” she snapped.

I held up my scraped palms. “All right. There’s a broom behind the counter. I’ll bring it to you.”

Serena bent toward the rug.

“Don’t,” Laura said.

Serena straightened. “He’s frightening you for no reason. I saw the whole thing.”

I got to my feet slowly. My cheek throbbed where Laura had slapped it. At the counter, I fetched the broom and dustpan and laid them on the tile within Laura’s reach.

She swept the largest pieces away from the rug, her strokes short and careful. Then she slipped her hands under Leo and lifted him against her shoulder. He caught a fistful of her blonde hair.

Laura turned him toward the light, checking his bare feet and legs. I stayed back while she examined his hands and face. When she pulled the edge of his romper aside, I could see a thin red mark on his calf.

“There’s something here,” she said.

“I’ll get the first-aid kit,” I offered.

“I have one in his bag.”

She carried Leo to the small counter and set him on its clear end. I backed away to give her room. She found the kit in the diaper bag beside the register, cleaned the mark and examined it again.

Serena moved closer. “Let me look.”

“No,” Laura said.

“I’m a doctor.”

Laura turned so that her body was between Serena and Leo. “I heard you.”

Serena’s mouth tightened. “Then you should let me help.”

Laura fastened Leo’s romper and picked him up again. “I want the recording.”

“The system is in the office,” I said. “I can call the manager.”

Serena pushed her glasses higher on her nose. “This is ridiculous. He dropped the bottle, and now he wants to make a production of it.”

“You said I did it,” I replied. “The camera can show her.”

Laura looked between us. “Call.”

I picked up the counter phone. My hand left a faint smear on the receiver, and I wiped it with my sleeve before dialing.

Our manager, Denise, answered on the second ring.

“Denise, it’s Ivan. There’s been an incident in the back aisle. A bottle broke near a baby. We need you here to open the camera system.”

“Is the baby hurt?”

“His mother found a red mark on his leg. She’s with him now.”

“I’m five minutes away,” Denise said. “Don’t let anyone clean up the rest of it.”

I put the receiver down.

Serena folded her arms. “You’re treating me like a criminal over an accident.”

Laura rested Leo on her hip. He had stopped crying, though every few seconds he took a sharp breath and pressed his face into her shoulder.

“I came back because Ivan called me,” she said. “He said my prescription was ready and asked if I could collect it before the pharmacy closed. I stepped outside to move my car closer to the door. I left Leo on the rug while I did it.”

She looked down at the glass.

“I was gone less than two minutes.”

“I was at the counter when you went out,” I said. “Then I heard him crying.”

Serena gave a short laugh. “And you expect her to believe I raised a bottle over a child?”

“I expect the camera to show her.”

Laura touched her cheek, then looked at mine. “I shouldn’t have hit you.”

I wanted to put my hand against the sore spot, but both palms were scraped. “No,” I said.

“I thought you’d hurt him.”

“You can find out what happened.”

She nodded once and pulled Leo closer.

Serena walked toward the front of the pharmacy. Laura shifted in front of the glass door.

“Where are you going?”

“To my car. I have another appointment.”

“Denise is almost here,” I said.

Serena looked at Laura. “You cannot keep me here.”

Laura stepped aside, but she kept her eyes on her. Serena put her hand on the door handle, then released it.

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll wait.”

Denise arrived with her keys in one hand and her coat half-buttoned. She stopped when she saw the glass.

“Nobody’s swept this?”

“Only enough to reach Leo,” I said.

Denise nodded. “Laura, is he all right?”

“I think so. I want him checked, but I want to see the recording first.”

“We can do that.” Denise looked at Serena. “Come with us.”

The office was just beyond the counter. Denise unlocked it and pulled a chair in front of the monitor. Laura stood behind her with Leo on her hip. I stayed by the door, and Serena stood in the aisle outside.

Denise entered her password and selected the camera covering the waiting rug. A grid of recorded footage appeared. She checked the time against the call I had made to Laura and moved the cursor back several minutes.

The screen showed Laura setting Leo on the rug. She smoothed his curls, touched his foot and walked toward the front door. Serena came into view a few seconds later.

“There,” Laura said.

On the screen, Leo began to cry. Serena looked toward the counter, then crouched in front of him. Denise turned up the sound.

“Enough,” Serena said through the speaker.

Onscreen, Serena stood and picked up the heavy glass bottle from the shelf. She held it above Leo.

“Shut up!”

Laura gripped the back of Denise’s chair. Leo lifted his head from her shoulder.

The recording showed me running into the aisle.

“Put him down!”

Serena turned. The bottle slipped, and I dove with both arms out. It fell past me and shattered beside the rug.

Denise paused the recording.

For a moment, the only sound in the office was Leo rubbing his palm against Laura’s dress.

Then Laura said, “Play the rest.”

The screen moved again. Laura appeared in the front door and stopped. Serena pointed at me.

“He did it!”

Laura watched herself cross the aisle, pull me up and slap me. Denise paused the video a second time.

Laura turned toward me. “Ivan.”

I leaned against the doorframe. “I heard you before.”

“I’m sorry.”

I nodded. My cheek still hurt, and I didn’t know what else to say.

Serena stepped into the doorway. “The bottle slipped. You can see that.”

“You were holding it over him,” Laura said.

“I wasn’t going to drop it.”

“You shouted at him.”

“He was screaming, and I picked up the bottle to move it.”

Denise pointed at the frozen image. “You picked it up from the shelf and held it above him.”

Serena opened her mouth, but Laura spoke first.

“Save it.”

“I will,” Denise said. “I’ll also make sure the original recording stays on the system.”

“I want a copy.”

“I can provide one to you and to the police.”

Serena stared at her. “You’re calling the police?”

Laura adjusted Leo on her hip and took her phone from her bag. “Yes.”

“I’m a senior doctor. This could damage my career.”

Laura unlocked her phone. “You told me he did it.”

Serena looked at me. “Ivan, tell her I didn’t mean for the bottle to fall.”

“You told her I dropped it,” I said.

“I panicked.”

I glanced at the monitor, where her finger was still pointed at me. “You had time to point.”

Denise asked Serena to wait near the counter while she saved the footage. Serena went without another word. Through the office doorway, I could see her standing beside the broken bottle, careful not to step on the glass.

Laura made her call. She gave the address, described the bottle and asked for someone to come to the pharmacy. Then she called Leo’s doctor to arrange a check.

When she finished, she looked at my hands. “You should have those looked at too.”

“There’s a sink in the staff room,” I said.

Denise passed me a clean towel from a drawer. “Use this first.”

I wrapped it around my palms and went to the sink. Tiny pieces of grit washed into the basin. When I came back, Laura was sitting in the office chair with Leo on her lap. Denise was labeling a copy of the recording.

Serena stood at the front window, looking out at the parking lot.

“I’m not staying here all night,” she said.

“The police are on their way,” Laura answered.

A car pulled up outside. Serena watched it, then stepped away from the door.

Denise handed Laura the copy of the recording in a plain envelope. Laura tucked it into Leo’s diaper bag, zipped the pocket and lifted him against her shoulder.

When the officers came through the glass front door, she walked up to them and pointed toward Serena.