Chapter 4 - Ten Minutes
Catherine had not planned to visit.
She had gone to a grocery store after volunteering and noticed a display of blue baby socks. She bought three pairs, along with a container of Emma’s favorite soup.
When she arrived at the house, she expected to find Ryan preparing for his trip.
Instead, the front door was unlocked.
“Emma?”
Catherine carried the grocery bag into the hallway.
A baby was crying somewhere upstairs.
She climbed the steps quickly and entered the nursery.
The grocery bag fell from her hands.
Emma lay motionless beside the bassinet.
Catherine rushed forward and checked her breathing. It was shallow but present.
She immediately called emergency services.
While waiting, Catherine lifted Ethan from the bassinet and held him safely against her chest.
“You’re all right,” she whispered, though she was not sure whether she was speaking to the baby or herself.
The dispatcher instructed her to unlock the front door and remain beside Emma.
Paramedics arrived within minutes.
One examined Emma while another asked Catherine questions.
“How long has she been like this?”
“I don’t know.”
“Has she complained of headaches, blurred vision, swelling, chest pain?”
Catherine remembered Emma mentioning headaches during a family dinner two days earlier.
“Yes.”
“Where is her husband?”
“He was supposed to be here.”
Catherine called Ryan.
No answer.
She called again while paramedics carried Emma downstairs.
No answer.
At the hospital, doctors discovered Emma was suffering from a severe postpartum medical complication that had caused dangerously high blood pressure and loss of consciousness.
A doctor took Catherine aside.
“She arrived just in time.”
“How close was it?”
The doctor hesitated.
“Another ten minutes could have changed everything.”
Catherine sat down and covered her mouth.
Ethan slept in a hospital bassinet beside her, unaware of how close he had come to losing his mother.
Catherine tried Ryan again.
This time, the call connected for half a second before he rejected it.
She sent him a message.
Emma is in the hospital. Call me now.
The message showed as delivered.
Ryan did not respond.
Twenty minutes later, Catherine received a photograph from her sister, who had seen it on social media.
Ryan stood inside a lakeside cabin holding a glass of champagne.
Madison was kissing his cheek.
The caption read:
Birthday freedom at last.
May you like
Catherine looked through the hospital room window at Emma.
Then she saved the photograph.
