Chapter 1 - The Siren’s Song
The ambulance tires screeched as they turned the sharp corner.
Inside the sterile cabin, the world was a blur of flashing red and blue lights.
Lucy stared blankly at the metal ceiling above her.
The plastic oxygen mask hissed with every shallow, painful breath she took.
She placed a trembling, soot-stained hand over her swollen belly.
Her unborn child was the only thing keeping her tethered to reality right now.
Seven hours.
She had spent seven agonizing, terrifying hours trapped in that suffocating metal box.
And Alex had known she was in there.
He had known she was terrified of the dark.
He had known she was carrying his baby.
Yet, when the rescue doors finally pried open, he hadn't looked for her.
He had frantically reached for Valerie.
His beautiful, younger assistant.
His mistress.
Lucy closed her eyes, letting a single tear slip down her dirt-streaked cheek.
She remembered the panic in his voice as he yelled Valerie’s name.
She remembered how he had pulled the other woman into his chest, shielding her from the dust.
He had stepped right over Lucy’s outstretched hand to do it.
He didn't even glance into the dark corner where his pregnant wife lay gasping for air.
"Blood pressure is dropping," the paramedic shouted over the wailing siren.
"Push another line of IV fluids, now!"
Lucy felt a sharp prick in her arm, but the physical pain was nothing compared to her shattered heart.
The platinum band that used to sit on her left ring finger was gone.
She had taken it off in the dark, slipping it into the rookie firefighter’s hand just before they loaded her onto the stretcher.
It was a silent message.
A final goodbye to the man who was supposed to be her protector.
"Stay with us, ma'am," the paramedic urged, shining a penlight into her eyes.
"Think about your baby."
"I am," Lucy whispered softly beneath the mask.
"That’s exactly what I’m doing."
She was no longer the naive, devoted wife who would blindly wait for a man who didn't care.
She was a mother now.
And a mother would do anything to protect her child from a toxic life.
The ambulance finally slammed to a halt outside the emergency room doors.
The chaotic sounds of the hospital washed over her.
Doctors and nurses rushed toward the stretcher, barking medical jargon she couldn't understand.
As they wheeled her through the double doors, Lucy made a silent vow.
May you like
Alex would never get the chance to abandon them again.
Because from this moment on, he was dead to her.
