Chapter 4 - The Betrayal
Noah's tiny chest completely stopped moving.
I screamed into the pouring rain, panic clawing at my throat like wild animals.
I laid him flat on the wet grass and immediately began performing CPR.
I pumped his chest and breathed air into his lungs, refusing to let him die in the mud.
"Come on, Noah, please breathe for mommy," I begged through a mask of tears.
After two agonizing minutes, he let out a sharp, ragged gasp.
His heart was beating, but he was completely paralyzed and could not move his limbs.
I knew I had to get him to a hospital immediately.
I picked up his rigid body and ran desperately through the dark suburban backyards.
The freezing rain washed away my tears and completely soaked my clothes.
I reached the back porch of my neighbor Mark's house.
Mark was a retired paramedic who had lived next door to us for five years.
I pounded my bloody fists against his sliding glass door.
The lights flipped on, and Mark appeared in his bathrobe, his eyes wide with shock.
He unlocked the door and pulled us inside out of the storm.
"Rachel, what on earth happened?" Mark asked, grabbing a medical kit from his hall closet.
"Daniel poisoned him," I cried, laying Noah carefully on Mark's living room sofa.
"You need to call an ambulance right now."
Mark knelt beside Noah and quickly checked his pulse.
He stood up slowly and walked over to the kitchen counter.
He picked up his cell phone, but he did not dial 911.
He pressed a single button on his speed dial and placed the phone to his ear.
Mark looked at me with a profound, terrifying sadness in his eyes.
"Yes, Daniel, she is here," Mark said calmly into the phone.
May you like
Mark reached into his bathrobe pocket and pulled out a suppressed pistol.
"I am sorry, Rachel, but Daniel offered me two million dollars to handle this," Mark whispered.
