Chapter 2 - The Longest Six Minutes
"Emma, come on. Come on, honey."
Claire couldn't stop saying her daughter's name. Mr. Ellis laid the infant on the grass and checked her breathing with a trembling hand. He was a retired paramedic, but his voice had never sounded so frightened.
"She's breathing. Shallow, but she's breathing. Call nine-one-one from my house."
Claire crawled through the gate instead of standing. She barely remembered speaking to the dispatcher. An address, a baby, a fall. The dispatcher asked whether the baby was conscious.
"I don't know," Claire sobbed. "My sister threw her. She threw her on purpose."
The ambulance arrived six minutes later. To Claire, it felt like six years. A medic named Jules lifted Emma with terrifying care, supported her little head, and carried her into the vehicle.
"You can ride with us," Jules said. "But I need you to tell me exactly what happened."
Claire tried. Her throat closed around the words. Through the rear doors she saw Vanessa's silver SUV back out of the driveway. Vanessa looked directly at her. Then the SUV sped away.
"That woman," Claire said. "That's my sister. Please tell the police."
Jules radioed dispatch while a second medic placed a tiny oxygen mask near Emma's face. Claire watched the baby's narrow chest rise and fall.
"Is she going to live?"
"We're working on everything we can," Jules said. "Keep talking to her. She knows your voice."
At the emergency entrance, doctors moved faster than Claire could follow. Someone guided her into a chair. Someone else asked about the birth and whether Emma had medical problems.
"She was perfect yesterday," Claire said. "She made these little squeaking noises when she slept."
Dr. Shah came out twenty minutes later. "Emma is alive. Her breathing is more stable. We need imaging and close observation. We can't promise there are no internal injuries yet."
Claire pressed both hands to her face and cried with relief that hurt.
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Then a hospital security officer approached, holding a phone that wasn't hers.
"Your sister called the front desk," he said. "She says she has something you must sign. And she said she knows which room your baby is in."
