Chapter 1 - The Breach at Bed 4The curtain ripped open with a violent screech of metal rings, rattling the IV pole and making Emily flinch so hard her monitor spiked.
"Get your hands off me! I’m her father!" Michael roared, his face purpling with veins bulging against his temples as two hospital security guards grappled with his forearms.
"Sir, you need to calm down or we will escort you out of the emergency department," a burly officer warned, planting his boots firmly on the linoleum.
I stepped instantly between Michael and Emily’s hospital bed, throwing my arm out to block him. My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird, but for the first time in fifteen years, my voice didn't shake.
"You aren't touching her, Michael," I said, my voice cutting through the noise of the busy ER.
Michael’s eyes locked onto mine, narrowing into those familiar, venomous slits that used to make me shrink into the kitchen corners. "You delusional bitch," he spat, straining against the guards. "You’ve turned her against me. You think you can sneak out in the middle of the night? I am the head of this household, and she is coming home with me right now!"
"She has an acute, ruptured appendicitis and needs emergency surgery within the hour," the doctor declared, stepping out of the trauma bay with a clipboard pressed tightly to his chest. "If you interfere with patient care, security will lock you in a holding cell."
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Michael froze, his chest heaving. For a fraction of a second, panic flickered behind his eyes—not panic for his daughter's life, but panic over something else. Something hidden.
Emily whimpered from the bed, clutching the scratchy hospital blanket to her chin. "Mom... don't let him take me back. Please."
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