Chapter 2: The Ambulance
Marcus called 911 with one hand and kept the other resting against Nia’s shoulder.
The dispatcher’s voice came through his phone calmly.
“Is she breathing?””
“Yes.””
“Is she conscious?””
“Barely. I don’t know. She won’t answer me.””
“Do not give her food or water. Keep her on her side if she vomits. Paramedics are on the way.””
Marcus barely heard the rest.
His attention remained fixed on Nia.
Her eyelashes moved once.
“Nia?””
Her lips parted.
Nothing came out.
“Stay with me, baby.””
Behind him, Vanessa whispered, “Marcus…”
He snapped his head around.
“What are these pills?””
“I told you, I don’t know.””
“You said you didn’t give her anything.””
“I didn’t.””
“That wasn’t my question.””
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“I panicked.””
“You panicked so badly you answered a question I hadn’t asked?””
Jordan shifted beside her.
“Mom…”
“Stay out of this,” Vanessa said sharply.
Marcus saw it.
The look she gave Jordan.
Quick.
Warning.
His heartbeat changed.
It was no longer only fear.
Something else had entered the room.
Suspicion.
The sirens arrived minutes later.
Two paramedics rushed inside carrying equipment while another followed with a stretcher.
Marcus moved aside only because they made him.
One checked Nia’s pulse while another placed an oxygen mask over her face.
“What did she take?”” the paramedic asked.
“I don’t know.””
“Any prescriptions?””
Marcus shook his head.
“She doesn’t take medication.””
Vanessa spoke from behind him.
“She might’ve found something.””
Marcus turned.
The paramedic looked between them.
“Do you know what?””
“No,” Vanessa said.
Again, too quickly.
The paramedic held out a specimen bag.
“The pills.””
Marcus dropped them inside.
They lifted Nia onto the stretcher.
Her arm fell slightly toward the edge.
Marcus grabbed her hand.
It felt small inside his.
He remembered holding that same hand when she was born.
He remembered her first day of kindergarten.
The missing front tooth she refused to smile without covering.
The way she still crawled onto the couch beside him whenever thunderstorms came.
And suddenly one sentence repeated inside his head.
Daddy, why won’t you believe me?
Marcus swallowed hard.
“I’m riding with her.””
Vanessa stepped forward.
“I’ll come.””
“No.””
Everyone stopped.
Vanessa frowned.
“What?””
“Stay here.””
“Marcus, she’s my stepdaughter.””
“I said stay here.””
His tone ended the discussion.
Then he looked at Jordan.
“You stay too.””
Jordan nodded.
Marcus followed the stretcher outside.
As the ambulance doors closed, he saw Vanessa standing in the doorway.
Jordan beside her.
For the first time since marrying her, Marcus looked at his wife and felt like he might be looking at a stranger.
At the hospital, everything moved too quickly.
Nurses.
Questions.
Forms.
Blood samples.
Doctors.
Nia was taken behind double doors while Marcus remained in the emergency waiting area with his phone clutched in his hand.
He called his older sister, Renee.
She answered on the second ring.
“What’s wrong?””
Marcus couldn’t explain why her first question sounded like that.
Maybe family could hear disaster in a person’s breathing.
“It’s Nia.””
Renee went silent.
“What happened?””
“She passed out.””
“What do you mean passed out?””
“They think she took something.””
“Took what?””
“I don’t know.””
His voice cracked.
“I found pills in her backpack.””
Renee didn’t speak for several seconds.
Then she asked quietly, “Where’s Vanessa?””
“At home.””
Another pause.
“Good.””
Marcus frowned.
“What does that mean?””
“Nothing.””
“Renee.””
“Take care of Nia first.””
“What does that mean?””
“I said take care of Nia first.””
Marcus stared at the floor.
Something about her voice disturbed him almost as much as Vanessa’s reaction.
“You know something?””
“No.””
“Renee—”
“Marcus. Your daughter is in the emergency room. We will talk when I get there.””
She hung up.
Twenty-five minutes later, a doctor approached.
“Mr. Hayes?””
Marcus stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
“Yes.””
“I’m Dr. Patel.””
“How is she?””
“She’s stable.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
Two words.
Stable.
Not fine.
But stable.
He almost collapsed from relief.
“What happened?””
“We’re still waiting on toxicology.””
“The pills?””
“They’ve gone to the lab.””
“Can I see her?””
“In a moment.””
The doctor hesitated.
“There is something else.””
Marcus’s relief disappeared.
“What?””
“Your daughter has some bruising.””
Marcus blinked.
“From falling?””
“Some may be.””
Dr. Patel spoke carefully.
“But there are bruises on her upper arms that don’t appear consistent with tonight’s fall.””
Marcus didn’t move.
The hospital sounds around him became distant.
“What are you saying?””
“I’m asking whether anyone has been physically restraining her recently.””
Marcus thought about the living room.
Vanessa grabbing Nia’s shoulders.
Her fingers digging into the hoodie.
He remembered other moments too.
Vanessa pulling Nia by the wrist.
Vanessa steering her toward her room.
Vanessa saying the girl was dramatic.
“It could be from… discipline.””
Dr. Patel’s face remained neutral.
“What type of discipline?””
Marcus looked away.
He hated that question.
Not because he knew the answer.
Because he realized he didn’t.
“I don’t know.””
The doctor nodded.
“We will need to ask Nia some questions privately when she wakes up.””
Marcus’s stomach tightened.
“Why privately?””
“Because she may answer differently without family members present.””
Family members.
The phrase struck him.
Someone Marcus loved might be someone Nia feared.
Renee arrived soon afterward.
She wore jeans, a sweatshirt, and no makeup, clearly having left home immediately.
She hugged Marcus.
Then pulled back.
“How is she?””
“Stable.””
“Thank God.””
Marcus searched her face.
“What were you going to tell me?””
Renee looked toward the emergency room doors.
“Not here.””
“Tell me.””
“Marcus.””
“Tell me now.””
Renee exhaled.
“A few weeks ago, Nia called me.””
His face tightened.
“She called you?””
“She asked if she could come stay with me.””
“Why?””
“She wouldn’t say.””
Marcus felt a cold pressure forming in his chest.
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“I tried.””
“No, you didn’t.””
“Yes, I did.””
“When?””
“At your cookout last month.””
Marcus remembered.
Renee had pulled him aside near the garage.
She had asked whether Nia seemed happy.
Marcus had laughed.
He had said she was going through a phase.
Renee stared at him.
“You told me Vanessa thought Nia was becoming manipulative.””
Marcus went quiet.
“And then you told me not to interfere in your marriage.””
His mouth went dry.
Renee’s voice softened.
“I should’ve pushed harder.””
Before Marcus could respond, his phone buzzed.
A message from Jordan.
Dad, Mom is freaking out.
A second message appeared.
She keeps going through Nia’s room.
Marcus stared at the screen.
Then typed.
Going through what?
The typing bubble appeared.
Disappeared.
Appeared again.
Finally:
Her backpack. Desk. Drawers. Everything.
Marcus’s heart began pounding.
He immediately called Jordan.
Jordan answered quietly.
“Hello?””
“Put your mother on the phone.””
“She’s upstairs.””
“Why is she searching Nia’s room?””
“I don’t know.””
“Jordan.””
Silence.
“Tell me the truth.””
“I don’t know!””
Marcus lowered his voice.
“Your sister is in the hospital.””
“She’s not my—”
“Don’t.””
Silence.
Marcus continued.
“You lied about the television.””
Jordan didn’t answer.
That was answer enough.
“You kicked that ball.””
Nothing.
“Didn’t you?””
Jordan whispered, “Yeah.””
Marcus closed his eyes.
Anger rolled through him.
“Why did you blame her?””
Jordan breathed shakily into the phone.
“Because Mom said she’d handle it.””
Marcus opened his eyes.
“What does that mean?””
Another silence.
May you like
Then Jordan said something Marcus would replay again and again afterward.
“She always handles it.””
