Chapter 8

Vivian carried Owen downstairs and set him down beside the sofa. The moment Ethan saw the boy bent over, he let go of me.

Owen was doubled over with his hands on his stomach. Vivian said the pain had come on suddenly and he'd already vomited twice. She thought it was something he'd eaten.

Ethan crouched beside him at once and asked careful questions about where it hurt and when the pain had started. He took a tissue and wiped the mess from Owen's mouth. When Owen whimpered that he felt awful, Ethan softened his voice and patiently helped him explain what hurt.

Lily's hand, the one that had just clutched her father's shirt, hung in the air for a moment. Then she slowly drew it back against her chest.

Ethan put my phone on the cabinet. I reached for it, but Vivian snatched it first.

"Give that back to me! You take Owen to the hospital. I'll take Lily. No one has to wait."

Vivian put it on top of the cabinet and turned to Ethan. "She wants to take Lily away. Once she and Noah are living together, you'll need someone else's permission to see your own daughter."

Lily called for me again. I left the phone and bent to lift her, but Ethan seized both my arms and dragged me into the study, telling Vivian to stay with Lily.

I'd barely regained my footing when the lock clicked behind me.

"Ethan!" I wrenched at the handle. "Open this door!"

I pounded on the door. "Let me out! We can talk about the divorce and the complaint after she's seen a doctor. Please, let me get my child help!"

Outside he was on the phone saying he was taking Owen to St. Anne's Children's Hospital. He told Vivian to watch Lily, and then his footsteps faded.

I called his name over and over, but there was no answer. The man who had once pulled me out of that rubble and said he would protect me was now the one who'd locked me in.

I pressed against the door and called to my daughter. "Lily, I'm here. Please say something, sweetheart."

At first, she answered. After a while, all I heard was a faint, muffled whimper. The longer I listened, the more terrified I became. I wanted to break the door down.

Vivian's voice came from the hall. "Don't make trouble the way your mother does. Your father has enough on his mind."

"Check on her. She was running a fever just now!" I shouted until my voice went hoarse, and the only response was the sound of Vivian's impatient footsteps.

I rushed to the low window overlooking the yard, but the frame was stuck. I picked up a chair and smashed the glass. A neighbor, Ben Carter, cried out, and I immediately shouted for him to call an ambulance. "My daughter has a fever, and she's just had surgery! I'm locked in here and I can't get out!"

Ben made the call. I used the chair to knock the broken glass aside, braced myself on the sill, and climbed out. I cut my arm but couldn't stop to worry about it. I ran around the yard and back to the living room.

Inside, Lily had slumped into the corner of the sofa, and the bear was on the floor.

"Sweetheart, Mom is here."

Lily struggled to open her eyes and grabbed my clothes with her left hand. As I supported her and prepared to move her, Vivian rushed over and held out a hand to stop me, shouting that I was going to get everyone into trouble.

Ben stepped in front of Vivian.

"Let her through."

By the time the police and paramedics arrived, Lily could barely answer me. I quickly explained that her surgical wound was infected and she'd missed her follow-up. I didn't dare let go until the paramedics took her.

Ben picked up the bear and handed it to me. I took it into the ambulance and told the crew she had been treated at St. Anne's the whole time. One of the paramedics told me to keep pressure on my arm. My other hand was still holding my daughter's.

A little farther down the road, she briefly came to and looked at me. Her voice was barely a whisper. "Did I make Daddy angry?"

"No. You did nothing wrong at all."

"I kept calling him."

I gently pressed my forehead against her small face.

"We're going to the hospital. When it hurts, tell me. You don't have to wait for Daddy anymore. I'm listening."

Lily murmured in reply and tightened her grip on my shirt.

A moment later, she was still gripping my shirt, but she no longer responded to anything I said.

The paramedics leaned in at once and told me to sit back and give them room. I moved back into the seat and said her name, again and again.

They rushed the stretcher into the emergency department. I ran alongside it, my sleeve soaked with blood. Ethan was standing in the corridor. Owen was in a room nearby with a nurse. When Ethan heard me calling her name, he turned around at once.

"Claire, don't panic, I—" He came toward me, got a clear look at his daughter on the stretcher, and stopped short.

Lily's eyes were closed and her face was gray. As they pushed her through, the paramedics told the doctor that they hadn't been able to wake her on the way in.

Ethan's hand froze in midair. He stared at Lily, unable to tell me to trust him this time.