“I cried.”
“Okay.
And then what happened?”
Her fingers tightened around mine.
“Daddy said I had to sit there until I stopped.”
Luke scoffed.
“That’s called discipline.”
I looked at him.
“She couldn’t breathe.”
“She was breathing.”
“Her lips were blue.”
“You’re exaggerating.”
The second paramedic looked up sharply.
“No, she’s not.”
Silence.
Luke blinked.
The paramedic continued, “Your daughter was in significant respiratory distress when we arrived.
Whatever started it, delaying medical attention was dangerous.”
Luke opened his mouth.
The first paramedic cut him off.
“And that is exactly why I remember you.”
I turned toward him.
He hesitated, choosing his words carefully.
“Last year, my crew responded to a call involving another child.
You were present.
You repeatedly tried to stop us from treating that child because you said the child was exaggerating and needed to learn a lesson.”
My skin went cold.
The same words.
Luke laughed once, but there was no humor in it.
“You can’t possibly remember one random call from a year ago.”
“I remember people who interfere with emergency care.”
Luke’s jaw tightened.
“Nothing happened to that kid.”
The paramedic stared at him.
“That’s your defense?”
I couldn’t breathe properly myself now.
“Luke,” I whispered.
“What is he talking about?”
He looked at me as though I were the problem.
“It was nothing.
Somebody overreacted.
Just like you’re doing now.”
Something about that answer frightened me more than a denial would have.
He wasn’t shocked.
He wasn’t confused.
He knew exactly what the paramedic meant.
Outside, another vehicle pulled up.
Luke heard it too.
He glanced toward the front window.
The first paramedic noticed.
“Stay where you are.”
“I’m in my own house.”
“And police are on their way inside.”
Luke took another step.
I stood instinctively between him and Addie.
He looked at me with disbelief.
