Chapter 3 - The Ultimate Abandonment
|
The flashing red lights of emergency vehicles painted the ruined grand entrance of the hotel in shades of crimson and black. Paramedics rushed through the debris, barking orders and loading the wounded onto stretchers.
I sat on the cold curb outside, holding an oxygen mask over Haley's face with my trembling, glass-cut hands. My shoulder was wrapped in thick white gauze that was rapidly turning red, but I refused to let the medics load me onto a stretcher until my daughter's oxygen saturation stabilized.
Two ambulances sat idling near the driveway, their rear doors open.
Dylan walked out of the lobby doors, carrying Ryan in his arms while Sierra walked closely at his side, her hand resting firmly against his hip.
I looked up, hope flickering faintly in my shattered chest. He was finally coming to check on his daughter. He was finally coming to see if we were alive.
Dylan stopped in front of the two ambulances. He glanced down at me sitting on the cold asphalt, covered in blood and plaster, holding our wheezing child. Then he looked at Sierra, who squeezed his arm and whimpered softly.
He walked past us toward the first ambulance.
"Dylan!" I called out, my heart dropping into a dark abyss. "Where are you going? Haley needs to go to the hospital right now!"
Dylan paused at the rear doors of Sierra's ambulance. He turned his head, looking at me with an expression that was cold, detached, and utterly devoid of remorse.
"Elena, you’re an adult," he said, his tone flat and dismissive. "You’re strong. You can handle yourself and Haley for a little while."
I stared at him, my jaw trembling in absolute disbelief. "She had an asthma attack, Dylan! The ceiling fell on us!"
"Ryan is young," Dylan cut me off, his voice hardening as if I were being unreasonable. "He’s deeply traumatized, and Sierra is in shock. They need my support right now. My assistant, Mark, is coming with a private driver to take you to the clinic."
"He has a scratch on his knee!" I yelled, tears finally spilling over my lashes. "Your daughter was almost crushed to death!"
"Don't exaggerate, Elena," Dylan snapped, stepping into the back of the ambulance alongside Sierra. "You saved her, didn't you? She's fine. Stop making a scene."
Before I could speak another word, Dylan pulled the heavy metal doors shut.
The ambulance pulled away, its sirens blaring into the cool night air, carrying my husband away with his ex-fiancée and her son.
A small, cold hand reached up and pulled slightly at my torn sleeve. I looked down into Haley's wide, dark eyes. She had pulled the oxygen mask slightly away from her mouth. She wasn't crying anymore. She just looked at me with an innocence that had been permanently shattered.
May you like
"Mommy..." she whispered softly, her small voice breaking. "Does Daddy not want us anymore?"
I pulled her tight against my chest, burying my face in her dusty hair, and wept silently as the red lights disappeared into the dark city streets.
