CHAPTER 2: THE AMBULANCE THEY CALLED DRAMA
Emily folded into Daniel's arms as if her bones had finally stopped negotiating with pain.
"Emily. Stay with me."
Her fingers dug into his shirt while another contraction moved across her stomach. Teresa appeared in the kitchen doorway only after the plate shattered loudly enough to interrupt the television.
"What happened now?" she asked.
"Call an ambulance," Daniel said.
Teresa stared at him. "Don't be ridiculous. She probably has gas. Pregnant women are dramatic."
Emily whimpered.
Daniel looked at his mother and felt the old peacekeeper in him die quietly.
"Call. An ambulance."
Brittany wandered in with her new phone. "Can't you just drive her? Ambulances cost money."
Daniel held out his hand. When she hesitated, he took the phone himself and dialed 911.
Kayla lowered the TV. Lily stayed near the couch with pizza in her hand. Not one of them asked if the baby was okay.
The paramedics arrived in nine minutes. They placed Emily on a stretcher, checked her blood pressure, and asked how long the pain had been coming.
"Maybe an hour," Emily whispered.
Daniel stared at her.
An hour.
She had been washing his family's dishes while contractions tightened around their son.
"Have you eaten today?" the paramedic asked.
Emily said nothing.
Teresa waved a hand. "There was plenty of pizza."
Daniel bent close. "What did you eat?"
"Toast," Emily said. "This morning."
The paramedic's expression hardened. "She needs evaluation immediately."
As they wheeled Emily toward the elevator, Teresa caught Daniel's sleeve.
"Before you go, leave grocery money. Your sisters are staying through the weekend."
Daniel slowly turned.
"Get out."
Teresa blinked. "Excuse me?"
"All four of you. Take your things and get out of my apartment."
Brittany laughed nervously. "You don't mean that."
"I've never meant anything more."
Teresa's wounded look vanished. Something colder replaced it.
"You would throw your own mother out because your wife had a stomach cramp?"
"She hasn't eaten since this morning."
"That is not my fault."
"You watched her clean up after you."
"She lives here for free."
"She is my wife. This is her home. You are the guests."
Teresa's mouth tightened.
Then she said something Daniel would not understand until later.
"You have no idea what that woman is trying to take from us."
At St. Catherine's, nurses took Emily through double doors while Daniel stood under fluorescent lights with grease under his fingernails and dishwater dried on his shirt.
Forty minutes later, Dr. Priya Patel led him to a monitoring room. Emily lay under a white blanket, two bands around her belly. One tracked contractions. The other carried the fast, steady rhythm of their son's heartbeat into the room.
Daniel nearly collapsed.
"His heart rate is strong," Dr. Patel said. "Your wife was dehydrated, severely fatigued, and having preterm contractions. We stopped them for now, but we're keeping her overnight."
For now stayed in Daniel's chest like a hook.
Then the doctor's eyes moved to Emily's arm.
Daniel looked too.
Four finger-shaped bruises darkened the skin above her elbow.
"Who grabbed you?" he asked.
Emily pulled the blanket higher.
Dr. Patel stepped back. "I'll give you a minute."
When the door closed, Daniel sat beside the bed.
"Emily. Who?"
She stared at the ceiling.
"Brittany."
"Why?"
Her eyes filled.
"They were looking for a blue envelope."
Daniel had never heard of any blue envelope.
But Teresa's warning now felt less like anger and more like a confession.
His family had not only been abusing Emily.
They had been searching for something.
May you like
And whatever it was, Teresa believed Emily and the baby were the only things standing between her and getting it.
Daniel was going to find it first.
