Chapter 4 - EVERY BREATH
Noah looked impossibly small beneath the oxygen mask.
Machines surrounded the hospital bed.
A green line moved across the monitor with every heartbeat.
Maya sat beside him with a bandage above her eyebrow.
Her hands would not stop shaking.
Ryan entered the room.
She looked at him but said nothing.
He wanted to embrace her.
He wanted to apologize.
He wanted to erase every moment when he had dismissed her concerns about Evelyn.
Instead, he stood beside the door like a stranger.
“The police found the inhaler,” he said.
Maya’s eyes closed.
“Where?”
“In the locked drawer.”
A tear rolled down her cheek.
“I told you she took it.”
“I know.”
“You didn’t believe me.”
Ryan could not defend himself.
Weeks earlier, Maya had told him Evelyn was watching her.
He had called it a misunderstanding.
Maya said Evelyn moved objects around the nursery.
Ryan blamed the housekeeper.
Maya said Evelyn questioned every medical decision.
Ryan said his mother was trying to help.
Now his son was fighting to breathe because Ryan had kept choosing the easier explanation.
Dr. Samuel Price entered.
“Noah is responding to treatment,” he said.
“But the delay made the attack more dangerous.”
Ryan looked toward the bed.
“Is he going to be all right?”
“We believe so.”
“But we need to monitor him through the night.”
Maya covered her mouth.
Ryan reached for her hand.
She pulled away.
The movement was small.
But it hurt more than any accusation.
A nurse stepped into the room.
“There are officers outside.”
“They need a statement from both parents.”
Maya looked at Ryan.
“Did they arrest her?”
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“They’re reviewing everything.”
Maya’s voice hardened.
“She watched him suffocate.”
Ryan lowered his eyes.
“I saw the recording.”
“She wanted me to panic.”
“I know.”
“She wanted you to see me losing control.”
“I know.”
“She was willing to hurt Noah to do it.”
Ryan finally looked at her.
“I know.”
Maya stood carefully.
“Then stop saying you know.”
“Do something.”
The door opened again.
Detective Ortiz entered with a sealed evidence envelope.
“We recovered several videos,” she said.
“And there’s something else.”
She placed a printed email on the table.
May you like
It had been sent from Evelyn to a family-law attorney.
The subject line read, “Final stage begins tonight.”
