Tess gently holds Ellie’s wrist in the vice. The washcloth will prevent any telltale marks of a metal restraint. Joel will want to get to the bottom of how the so-called accident occurred, but Tess doesn’t want him to imagine the devices used too vividly. No man wants to see his baby girl screaming, clamped in a vice.

The alcohol, though, needs some consideration.

“You should be okay,” she says. “But it might make the bleeding worse. Up to you, kid.”