Chapter 3
The blinding, chaotic lights of the ambulance interior illuminated the sheer terror etched across Robert's face. He sat on the narrow metal bench, his duty boots braced against the floor as the vehicle swerved through the suburban streets. The cinematic red and blue strobes painted the sterile white walls in rapid, dizzying bursts of color.
On the stretcher between them, Emma lay completely still. Her fair, rosy skin had turned a terrifying shade of translucent grey. A paramedic named Miller, a young man with a frantic urgency in his eyes, was working aggressively over her small chest, attaching larger, medical-grade defibrillator pads to supplement her internal monitor.
"Heart rate is entirely erratic!" Miller shouted over the blaring siren, looking at the glowing screen of the EKG machine. "She's in V-Tach. The heat exhaustion caused massive electrolyte imbalance. Her heart can't handle the strain!"
"Fix it!" Robert roared, his voice tearing at the seams. "Give her whatever she needs! Push the meds!"
"I'm pushing Amiodarone now, Sheriff," Miller responded, his hands shaking slightly as he injected the medication into Emma's IV line. "But her core temp is still 104 degrees. We have to cool her down or her organs are going to start failing."
Robert grabbed Emma's tiny, limp hand. It felt entirely too hot, like she was burning from the inside out. He leaned over her, his sheriff's badge pressing uncomfortably into his own chest.
"Emma, please," Robert begged, his tears dropping onto her yellow T-shirt. "You promised me you would be brave. You promised me we would go for ice cream tonight. Don't leave me, baby. Please."
Emma's eyes remained closed. The continuous shrieking of her internal monitor clashed horribly with the alarms on the ambulance's equipment.
"Sheriff, you need to step back," Miller ordered, grabbing the defibrillator paddles. "The medication isn't working. We are losing her pulse. I have to shock her."
Robert's breath hitched. He released her hand and pressed himself flat against the metal wall of the ambulance, his heart shattering into a million jagged pieces.
"Clear!" Miller shouted.
The paramedic pressed the paddles to Emma's chest. Her tiny body jerked upward from the electrical current, then fell back onto the stretcher, completely lifeless.
The EKG screen remained a flat, terrifying line for three agonizing seconds. Robert felt the world collapsing around him. The bright colors of his life were fading to absolute black.
Suddenly, a jagged spike appeared on the monitor. Then another. The flatline broke into a rapid, but steady, rhythm.
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"We have a pulse!" Miller exhaled loudly, wiping sweat from his brow. "It's weak, but it's there. We're two minutes from the ER, Sheriff. She's holding on."
Robert collapsed onto the bench, burying his face in his hands. He took a deep, shuddering breath, the smell of antiseptic filling his lungs. His daughter was alive, but the war had just begun. As the ambulance pulled into the emergency bay, Robert looked up, his fair face hardening into a mask of pure, unadulterated vengeance.
