Chapter 1 - The Stolen Evidence
The deafening wail of the ambulance siren finally shattered the terrifying silence in my kitchen. Two paramedics burst through my front door carrying a stretcher and heavy medical bags. They forcefully pushed past the crying children and dropped to their knees beside my daughter. Emma was incredibly pale and her lips were turning a horrifying shade of blue. I grabbed my husband by his shirt collar and begged him to tell the medics what he had smelled in the cup. Mark coldly brushed my trembling hand away and refused to look me in the eye. He told the paramedics that Emma had probably just choked on a piece of hard candy. I knew he was lying to them because I had just watched him slip the plastic unicorn cup into his jacket pocket. Why would a father hide the only piece of evidence that could save his dying child? The lead paramedic lifted Emma onto the stretcher and yelled that her pulse was fading fast. I jumped into the back of the ambulance while Mark promised to follow closely behind us in his truck. The ride to the hospital felt like an endless nightmare as the medics pumped oxygen into my baby's lungs. I held her freezing little hand and prayed to a God I had not spoken to in over a decade. When we arrived at the emergency room, a trauma team rushed her behind a set of restricted double doors. I paced the sterile waiting room for two agonizing hours without seeing any sign of Mark. My sister Rachel also never showed up, even though she had promised to drive my parents to the clinic. A tall doctor wearing scrubs finally emerged from the trauma bay with a deeply grim expression. He asked me if anyone in my immediate family took heavy prescription heart medication. I shook my head frantically and told him we were all perfectly healthy. The doctor sighed heavily and looked down at his medical chart. He told me that Emma had ingested a massive and nearly fatal dose of liquid digitalis. My entire world stopped spinning as a terrifying realization crashed into my mind. Liquid digitalis was the exact experimental medication Mark's deceased father used to take. And Mark was the only person on earth who still had access to his father's leftover medical supplies. I asked the doctor if he was absolutely sure about the toxicology report. He nodded and said the chemical levels in her blood were intentionally designed to stop a human heart. I pulled out my phone to call the police right then and there. Before I could dial the emergency numbers, a heavy hand clamped down hard on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Mark staring at me with a look of pure hatred. He leaned close to my ear and whispered that I needed to keep my mouth shut. If I told the police anything at all, he promised I would never see my daughter alive again.
