Chapter 5 - WHISPERS IN THE AMBULANCE
The rear doors of the ambulance slammed shut, cutting off the deafening roar of the city traffic outside.
Paramedic Sarah hooked Vanessa up to an emergency oxygen mask, her brow furrowed with intense concentration.
"Hang in there, Mrs. Vance, we're almost at Chicago Memorial," Sarah encouraged, pumping IV fluids into Vanessa's arm.
Noah sat rigidly on the narrow bench opposite the stretcher, still clutching the smartphone like a lifeline.
"Dad..." Noah whispered into the phone, his voice shaking so hard he could barely form the syllables.
"Noah, talk to me! What happened? Someone just called me from your phone saying there was an accident," David lied smoothly through the speaker.
Noah stared at his father's caller ID, realizing for the first time in his nine years of life that his father was a monster.
"You knew," Noah whispered, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks. "You knew she was going to hit her."
Silence stretched across the phone line for three agonizing seconds before David's tone shifted entirely.
May you like
"Noah, listen to me very carefully," David's voice dropped into a cold, menacing register. "Hang up the phone right now."
Before Noah could reply, the ambulance jerked violently as it slammed on its brakes outside the emergency room doors.
