Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 68576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68576 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 274(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
I gently tried to give him sips of water, not wanting to give him too much so he wouldn’t throw it all back up.
There was dried vomit on his face from where he’d likely already evacuated his belly once.
“I was parked under a tree!”
A man said, “It’s a hundred and fucking eleven degrees outside, you stupid cunt! Trees don’t matter in the middle of August!”
I agreed.
But my mouth wasn’t working.
My eyes were so focused on the child that I couldn’t think about the woman.
Another commotion.
I heard another officer respond, but I was too focused on the way my world was falling apart to notice who’d arrived on scene.
A child.
I had a child.
A two-year-old, who’d been left in a hot car while his mother fucked off in the air conditioning for who knew how long.
“Do something!” Emory cried. “He won’t give me my baby!”
“Back the fuck off!” I heard the officer respond. “Give us room!”
The medics came.
I tossed my keys to the cop I didn’t know, then got into the ambulance and rode to the hospital.
“Sir,” the doctor said. “I need some space.”
I didn’t want to give him that space.
In fact, I wanted to give him less space than I was already giving him.
“Come on,” a female nurse urged. “Come on.”
“Now, sir,” the social worker urged. “Please?”
It was only when I was kicked out of the room by the doctor and the social worker to perform a couple of exams when I saw them.
Emory was gesturing wildly with her hands to Sage, who was patting her comfortingly on the shoulder.
It was an intimate move.
Like they knew each other.
Got along.
Like they were friends.
And if they were friends, then they both knew who the other was.
A sick feeling started to form in my gut.
The door banged open, and I looked up to find Pepper barreling inside, a wild look in her eyes.
The moment she saw me, relief hit her features.
She rushed to me and said, “I heard. I was the only one in town, so I came. Maven called me at the store and told me everything.”
She came.
She came.
I felt my throat thicken, and a feeling of almost desperation rolled through me as I said, “I have a son.”
My croak had her moving forward, her hand on my arm now. “I heard.”
“He was locked in a hot car for twenty-seven minutes,” I whispered brokenly. “They don’t know that he’ll…”
“He will be fine,” she whispered, her hand going to my gut. “Carters are fighters.”
I closed my eyes as I prayed her words were true.
“You!”
We both turned to see Sage barreling toward us.
“Stop,” I snarled.
Sage stopped, blinking in surprise.
“Not here, and not now,” I barked.
Sage shook her head, her mouth opening and closing.
“I…” she started, but a couple of officers rolled through the doors of the ER, heading right for Emory, who was standing back, but still close enough to hear every word.
“Emory Cline?” an officer I recognized, but couldn’t quite place, said.
Emory turned toward them.
“Yes?” she asked nervously.
“You’re under arrest for child endangerment,” the first officer said.
The second one came over to me, a look of anger in his eyes. “Do you mind stepping into the hallway with me?”
I don’t know why I did it, but I caught Pepper’s hand in mine and dragged her with me.
The officer, who had a badge with the last name ‘Aguilar,’ held his hand up to Sage when she tried to follow. “Just us.”
Sage’s ire was palpable as she stayed behind.
We didn’t go far.
Just far enough that we weren’t near the nurses’ station, but close enough that I could still see the room with my child in it.
My child.
Holy fuck.
“Went to the store and asked some questions,” he said without preamble. “It was brought to her attention that she’d left the child in the car. Twice.”
Anger started to boil low in my belly, making me clench.
“A couple saw them pull in. She reached into her purse and produced a sippy cup and handed it back to the child before she got out. But since she ‘parked under a shaded spot’ she thought it would be fine while she ran in for a quick bite to eat with her brother,” he said.
“Her brother?” I stiffened.
I knew from when we’d briefly dated that her brother had been in prison for child molestation.
She’d had this defense of him every time she talked about him that had my hackles rising and was one of the reasons I’d decided that I couldn’t stay with her.
“She later stated to her brother, that the table beside her overheard, that the reason the baby was still in the car was because he was a registered sex offender, and that he could be put in jail again if he was caught near a child,” Officer Aguilar continued.
That anger boiling in my gut turned to full blown rage.
I could barely hold it in.