Chapter 2

The blood spread while I dialed 911.

"I am bleeding," I sobbed. "My car is trapped. Please, my baby isn't moving."

"We are tracking your GPS, ma'am," the dispatcher said quickly. "Keep your eyes open! Do not go to sleep!"

My phone battery flashed red. Twelve percent.

I hit Ethan’s contact name.

The phone rang. And rang. Voicemail.

I called again.

Ring. Ring. Call rejected.

My breath caught in my throat. He actually pressed the red button to hang up on me.

I kept hitting dial. Ten times. Fifteen times.

The phone just kept ringing. He was out there looking for his ex-girlfriend's dog. His wife and child were bleeding in a wrecked car.

A wave of dizziness hit me. My vision started to blur.

I stared at the battery icon. Eight percent.

His contact page was still open. I closed it and gave the dispatcher my exact mile marker.

I opened a text message to my older sister, Maya. I sent her my live location and a blurry photo of my blood-soaked pants.

Car crashed. Bleeding heavily. Trapped, I typed. Medical file password is 0412. Bring my insurance card to Memorial Hospital.

Maya replied instantly. I am driving now. Hold on, Claire!

I stared at his name until the letters blurred. Then I deleted the message I had begun recording, closed his contact page, and returned to the emergency call.

My phone screen went black.

My head felt so heavy.

Smash!

A deafening noise woke me up. Red and blue lights flashed right above me.

"We have a vehicle down here!" a voice shouted.

Loud power tools ripped my jammed door open. Strong hands pulled me out of the wreckage.

The firefighters cut the door wide enough for a stretcher. Minutes later, the ambulance doors closed above my feet.

A paramedic pressed a monitor to my belly.

"Fetal heart rate is dropping rapidly!" the paramedic shouted. "Step on the gas!"

The siren screamed.

We hit the hospital doors. It was pure chaos. Nurses grabbed my stretcher and sprinted down the hallway.

A doctor met us at the maternity ward. She took one look at the monitor.

"Fetal distress. Severe oxygen deprivation," she ordered sharply. "She is losing too much blood. Prep the OR for a crash C-section right now!"

"Claire!"

I turned my head. Maya burst through the doors. She looked terrified, but her eyes were fierce.

A nurse holding a clipboard blocked her path. "Where is the husband? We need his signature for the surgery!"

"He is not coming," I gasped. I reached my bloody hand toward my sister. "Maya... sign it. Don't wait for him."

Maya grabbed the pen. She signed the paper instantly.

They wheeled me into the operating room. The bright surgical lights blinded me.

I looked at the monitor next to my head. The baby's heart rate numbers were turning red. They were still dropping.

"We have to get this baby out in exactly five minutes," the doctor warned. She snapped her gloves on.

I stared at the heavy metal doors. They began to close.

"Don’t wait. Save Lily."

The operating-room doors opened. The doctor pulled on her gloves and looked at the monitor once more.

"We need this baby out within five minutes."