Chapter 2

I threw myself in front of an SUV that was just about to pull out of the parking lot. The driver rolled down his window. Seeing my disheveled hair, my blood-stained feet, and the bluish, limp child in my arms, his expression shifted instantly.

"Get in! The nearest children’s hospital is five miles east. I’ll get you there!"

I don’t remember how I scrambled into the backseat.

All I remember was Lily’s breath—thin as a fraying thread. I held her against me, terrified that if I held her too loosely she’d slip away, yet terrified of crushing her.

The driver ran four red lights, turning a fifteen-minute drive into an eight-minute race against death.

The moment we burst into the emergency room, my knees buckled. I dropped straight to the floor, lifting my child toward the oncoming nurses.

"Save her! Severe asthma attack, peanut allergy—please, save her!"

A nurse scooped Lily up immediately. Another rolled over a crash cart, and a team rushed into the trauma room like a whirlwind.

The doors slammed shut.

I knelt on the freezing tile floor, covered in mud and blood. My bare feet were torn to shreds, but my mind was completely numb.

Only one thought spun through my head over and over again:

If anything happens to Lily, I will kill Ethan.

I borrowed the desk phone at the nurses' station to dial his number.

First call: no answer.

Second call: no answer.

Third call: he finally picked up. Loud laughter and upbeat music blared through the receiver.

"What now?" Ethan's voice was relaxed, slurred with a slight buzz from the alcohol.

"Lily is in the resuscitation room."

There was a two-second pause on the other end, followed by a scoff.

"Tessa, do you really think making up a crisis will make me run back and cater to you? Chloe’s guests are still here. Can you stop being so selfish for once?"

"Ethan, I’m not lying to you."

I stared at the glowing red light above the emergency room door. My voice was terrifyingly calm.

"Her throat swelled shut. She was suffocating. They’re intubating her right now. Do you not understand plain English?"

Another brief silence followed, but then a different voice took over.

Chloe’s soft, gentle voice leaned close to the speaker, laced with just the right amount of concern.

"Tessa, is Lily really okay? Should I tell Ethan to go over? It’s all my fault. I shouldn't have thrown a birthday party today. I just didn't think things through."

Her voice was sweet and delicate, like poison dipped in honey.

Before I could utter a word, Chloe whispered something to Ethan. His voice returned, instantly heavy with anger.

"Listen to her, Tessa! Chloe is being considerate of you, even now. If you have an issue, take it out on me. Stop throwing your passive-aggressive attitude at her!"

"Whether I’m giving her attitude or not, you know the truth."

"Enough. I can't leave right now. I’ll come over after the party wraps up. Can you tone down your ridiculous exaggerations? Last time Lily scraped her knee, you acted like the world was ending. Now this again."

*Click.*

He hung up.

I gripped the receiver until my knuckles turned stark white, then slowly rested it back on the cradle.

The red light over the emergency room clicked off.

The doors swung open. A middle-aged doctor in scrubs walked out, pulling off his latex gloves with a heavy scowl.

"It was severe laryngeal edema triggered by a massive peanut protein allergic reaction. Her oxygen saturation had dropped below seventy percent by the time she arrived. Five minutes later, and we wouldn't have been able to bring her back."

He paused, his tone turning stern and accusatory.

"How are you managing her care as parents? With a documented history of severe peanut allergy, how could you let her ingest anything with peanuts?"