Chapter 4 - The Arrest and the Arrival
The scuffle in the kitchen was brief but brutal. Marcus, fueled by rage, threw a wild punch that grazed Miller's jaw, but Hayes tackled him from the side. They hit the linoleum hard, the heavy steel wrench clattering across the floor. It took three sets of handcuffs and the arrival of two more deputies to finally subdue him.
As they dragged a screaming Marcus out to the cruiser, the paramedics swarmed the kitchen. They carefully lifted the mother, whose name they had found on an ID as Eleanor. She was in a deep, medically induced diabetic coma. Her blood sugar was virtually non-existent; she had purposefully overdosed on her insulin to slow her heart rate and fake her own death, ensuring Marcus would ignore her and giving Lily the time to escape with the twins.
It was the ultimate sacrifice. She had traded her life for theirs.
The helicopter touched down on the hospital roof with a deafening roar. Dr. Evans and his trauma team were waiting. As they wheeled Eleanor through the double doors, Lily saw her.
The little girl let go of the wheelbarrow for the first time. "Mommy!" she screamed, a sound so full of raw agony it made the seasoned ER nurses weep.
"She’s sick, Lily, but we’re fighting for her," Dr. Evans said gently as they rushed the stretcher past into the ICU.
Down at the precinct, Marcus was laughing in the interrogation room. "She's dead, isn't she? I knew she wouldn't last. Now, you have to give those kids to me. I'm their father."
Detective Ramirez slid a folder across the metal table. "You're going away for a long time, Marcus. Attempted murder, home invasion, child endangerment."
May you like
"I have rights," Marcus sneered.
"Not anymore," Ramirez said coldly. "Because we found the black box in her closet."
