Chapter 1 - The Choice He Made in Front of EveryoneThe ambulance doors closed.
I watched the red lights disappear down the driveway.
My five-year-old daughter was lying beside me on a stretcher, struggling to breathe.
And my husband was gone.
Not with us.
With Sierra.
With Ryan.
I kept hearing his words.
“You're an adult. You can handle yourself.”
I had never imagined that sentence coming from Dylan.
Not after five years of marriage.
Not after everything I had given him.
And certainly not while our daughter was fighting for air.
“Mommy?”
Haley's tiny voice pulled me back.
I leaned over her.
“I'm here, sweetheart.”
“Daddy left.”
I swallowed.
“He had to help someone.”
She looked at me.
“Someone more important?”
I couldn't answer.
The paramedic beside us looked at me carefully.
“Ma'am, focus on your daughter.”
I nodded.
They rushed Haley into the emergency room.
I followed.
Every breath she took sounded like a struggle.
Her asthma medication was administered immediately.
The monitor began to stabilize.
“Her oxygen levels are improving,” the doctor said.
I closed my eyes.
Thank God.
Then a nurse approached me.
“Are you injured?”
I looked down.
Blood covered my sleeve.
“I don't know.”
She examined my shoulder.
“You need an X-ray.”
“I need to stay with my daughter.”
“You can do both.”
I sat beside Haley's bed.
She was exhausted.
Her little fingers wrapped around mine.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“Did Daddy save Ryan?”
I froze.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
I looked at my daughter.
How do you explain betrayal to a five-year-old?
I kissed her forehead.
“Sometimes adults make choices they shouldn't.”
She closed her eyes.
“Will he come back?”
I stared at the closed hospital door.
May you like
“I don't know.”
And for the first time, I realized that I wasn't sure I wanted him to.
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