Just then a nurse knocked on the door.
“Excuse me,” she said. “There’s someone here asking about the baby.”
“Who?” I asked.
“The nanny.”
Daniel stiffened.
“Laura?”
“Yes.”
“And… she brought a little girl with her.”
My stomach turned.
The room went silent.
“Send them in,” Daniel said.
A moment later the door opened.
Laura stepped inside, pale and nervous.
Beside her stood a small girl with curly hair and wide eyes.
The moment the child saw the baby through the glass window…
She started crying.
“I’m sorry!” she sobbed.
The room froze.
Laura turned to her in shock.
“Emma, what are you talking about?”
The little girl clung to her mother’s leg, tears streaming down her face.
“I just wanted to hug the baby!” she cried.
My heart sank.
“I squeezed him because he wouldn’t stop crying…”
Laura’s face drained of color.
“What did you do?” she whispered.
The little girl buried her face in her mother’s coat.
“I didn’t mean to hurt him.”
The room was completely silent.
Daniel slowly leaned against the wall.
Megan covered her mouth.
And I felt the cold realization settle in my chest.
The baby hadn’t been attacked.
He had simply been held too tightly…
by a child who didn’t understand how fragile life could be.
The room stayed silent for several long seconds.
Emma’s small sobs were the only sound.
Laura stood frozen, staring at her daughter like the world had just shifted beneath her feet.
“Emma…” she whispered, her voice shaking. “What did you do?”
The little girl clung tighter to her mother’s coat.
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