I went to the hospital to take my son to the hospital after he broke his leg. The nurse left me a note: “He’s lying. Check the camera at 3 a.m.”

A month later, Howard’s cast was being removed. He walked with a slight limp, but he was smiling again.

On the way to the car, he stopped.

“Mother?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t like keeping secrets.”

I squeezed his hand. “You don’t have to do that again. Not for me. Not for anyone.”

He nodded.

As we were driving home, I looked at him in the rearview mirror.

The truth had hurt. It had changed everything.

But my son… He could never again bear the weight of someone else’s lie.