“She has a pulse!” he shouted into the phone, voice cracking. “She’s unconscious, shallow breathing, severe trauma. Where is the ambulance?”
“Two minutes,” the dispatcher replied. “Do not move her. Stabilize the neck.”
Ethan looked up.
The twins stood frozen in the doorway, clinging to each other like birds in a storm.
“She’s alive!” he called out firmly. “Your mom is alive. Help is coming.”
One of the girls let out a sob that was half relief, half terror.
The ambulance arrived moments later, followed by police cruisers. Paramedics rushed in—efficient, fast.
“Severe concussion… possible skull fracture… rib injuries… let’s move!”
They lifted her onto a stretcher. The twins tried to follow, but an officer gently blocked them.
“We need to ask you some questions.”
“No!” one screamed. “We’re going with our mom!”
Ethan stepped forward without thinking.
“Officer—please. They just witnessed this. They’re in shock. Let them come with me to the hospital.”
The officer eyed him cautiously.
“And you are?”
Ethan swallowed.
What was he?
“I’m Ethan Carter. I was supposed to meet their mother tonight. They came to find me.”
An older officer stepped in.
“Let them go. We’ll handle statements at the hospital. Secure the scene.”
The girls sat pressed against Ethan in the back of the patrol car, holding onto him like he was a human seatbelt. Through the windshield, they watched the ambulance disappear into the night.
“Is she going to die?” whispered the girl with blood on her collar.
Ethan wanted to promise everything.
But he knew better.
“The doctors are going to do everything they can,” he said quietly. “She’s breathing. That matters.”
At the hospital, chaos took over. Natalie was rushed into surgery. The twins—Anna and Sophie—were taken to a quiet room with a social worker.
Ethan tried to give them space.
They refused to let go of his hand.
“Don’t leave us,” Sophie begged.
The social worker, Patricia, looked at him carefully.
“Is there family?”
“I don’t know. I’ve known them for twenty minutes.”
Patricia blinked.
“Then for now… you’re all they have. Can you stay?”
Ethan looked at the girls—their trembling lips, their exhausted eyes.
“Yes,” he said. “I’ll stay.”
At that moment, his phone buzzed.
Marianne.
“Ethan? Where are you? Natalie never showed up and you weren’t answering.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
“Marianne… something terrible happened. She’s in surgery.”
He explained everything.