🟢 Part 4
Miles didn’t remember the drive to the hospital.
Everything blurred into flashing lights, distant sounds, and the steady, fragile breathing of his children in the back seat. His hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white, as if letting go—even for a second—might cost him everything.
“Stay with me… both of you… please…” he whispered, more to himself than to them.
The emergency doors burst open as he rushed inside, his voice breaking as he called for help.
“Please! My kids—someone help!”
Within seconds, nurses and doctors surrounded him, carefully taking Lily and Tommy from his arms and placing them onto separate gurneys.
“What happened?” one of them asked quickly.
Miles struggled to answer.
“I… I don’t know… I just got home… they were on the floor…”
His voice failed him.
Time lost meaning in the waiting room.
Minutes felt like hours.
Miles sat there, his mind replaying Lily’s weak voice over and over again:
“She locked us… in the closet…”
Every second stretched painfully, until finally, a doctor approached.
“They’re alive,” he said calmly. “But they’re severely dehydrated and exhausted. Another day… and it could have been much worse.”
Miles closed his eyes, relief and guilt crashing into him at the same time.
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