Chapter 3 - A Birthday No One Could ForgetRyan sped home three days later after seeing dozens of missed calls from unknown numbers.
He never answered them during his vacation.
Now he stood in the bloodstained nursery, shaking.
Police officers entered behind him.
"Mr. Parker?"
Ryan turned.
"Where's my wife?"
"Where's my son?"
Detective Melissa Grant studied him carefully.
"They're alive."
Ryan collapsed into the rocking chair.
Relief flooded his face.
"Oh thank God..."
The detective's expression didn't change.
"They're alive because your neighbor heard your son crying."
Ryan stared at her.
"What?"
She handed him photographs.
Emma unconscious.
The blood-soaked nursery.
Paramedics performing CPR.
Ethan wrapped in emergency blankets.
Ryan couldn't breathe.
"I..."
"You left your wife ten days after childbirth while she was experiencing a medical emergency."
"I didn't know—"
Detective Grant interrupted.
"She begged you to stay."
He lowered his head.
"I thought..."
"You thought she was exaggerating?"
He said nothing.
Then another officer placed a tablet on the table.
"We also recovered this."
Ryan looked at the screen.
His own birthday video.
"Here's to surviving high-maintenance wives..."
His laughter echoed through the silent house.
The detective stopped the recording.
"While you filmed this..."
She slid another document toward him.
"It was the exact time paramedics were trying to keep your wife alive."
Ryan covered his face.
For the first time in his life...
He cried.
But tears couldn't change what had happened.
Emma remained in intensive care for another nine days.
She survived multiple surgeries.
Doctors told her the truth gently.
"You lost nearly half your blood."
"Another twenty minutes..."
The physician couldn't finish the sentence.
Emma looked toward Ethan sleeping safely beside her hospital bed.
Margaret sat quietly nearby holding his tiny hand.
Emma smiled weakly.
"You saved us."
May you like
Margaret shook her head.
"I only listened."
