Chapter 2 - THE SOUND OF HIS BREATHING
The ambulance doors closed before Maya reached the driveway.
Ryan helped her climb inside.
Oliver lay beneath a thin white blanket.
The oxygen mask covered most of his small face.
A paramedic squeezed medication into a nebulizer chamber.
Mist swirled beneath the mask.
Maya held Oliver’s foot because it was the only part of him she could reach.
“Please breathe, baby.”
Ryan sat across from her.
Blood stained the front of Maya’s blouse.
Her left cheek was swollen.
A dark mark had begun forming beneath her eye.
He wanted to ask what happened.
He wanted to know exactly how his mother had touched her.
But Oliver’s chest barely moved.
The paramedic listened through a stethoscope.
“Come on, little man.”
Oliver made a weak choking sound.
Maya closed her eyes.
Ryan gripped the metal bench until his knuckles turned white.
The ambulance raced through three red lights.
At Mercy Children’s Hospital, a medical team was waiting.
They rushed Oliver through two swinging doors.
Ryan tried to follow.
A nurse blocked him gently.
“You need to let us work.”
“That’s my son.”
“I know.”
“Please save him.”
“We’re going to do everything we can.”
The doors closed.
Maya stood frozen in the hallway.
Ryan turned toward her.
For the first time since entering the nursery, he allowed himself to look at her injuries.
Her lip was split.
There were red fingerprints around her wrist.
One sleeve of her blouse had been torn at the shoulder.
“Did my mother do this?”
Maya stared at the floor.
“Yes.”
The answer was barely audible.
Ryan stepped closer.
“Tell me what happened.”
“She came into the nursery while Oliver was sleeping.”
“She said she wanted to take him downstairs.”
“I told her he had a fever and needed rest.”
“She said I was isolating him.”
“She grabbed him.”
“I tried to stop her.”
Ryan’s jaw tightened.
Maya touched the swollen side of her face.
“She hit me.”
“Then she took the inhaler.”
“She put it in her pocket.”
“I saw her do it.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
“I tried.”
“She took my phone.”
Ryan remembered his mother standing calmly beside the window.
He remembered Maya sitting on the floor without a phone near her.
He remembered how quickly Evelyn had begun explaining.
She had not been surprised by his arrival.
She had been prepared for it.
A doctor stepped through the swinging doors.
Maya rushed toward him.
“How is he?”
The doctor removed his glasses.
“He is responding to treatment.”
Maya covered her mouth.
Ryan nearly fell against the wall.
“But he experienced a severe respiratory crisis.”
The doctor’s expression remained serious.
“Another ten minutes without medication could have caused permanent injury.”
Ryan felt something inside him break.
“Will he recover?”
“We need to monitor him overnight.”
“The next few hours are critical.”
Maya began crying silently.
Ryan wrapped both arms around her.
The doctor glanced at Maya’s face.
“Has anyone examined your injuries?”
Maya shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
“No.”
Ryan’s voice was firm.
“You’re not fine.”
A police detective approached from the end of the hallway.
She carried a sealed evidence bag.
Inside was Oliver’s inhaler.
“Mr. and Mrs. Whitmore?”
May you like
“My name is Detective Lena Torres.”
“We need to talk about what was found in that nursery.”
