Chapter 4 - The Golden Child Arrives
The rescue was a blur of high-powered spotlights, roaring rotor blades, and the strong hands of a National Guard paramedic who sawed through the attic shingles from above. Lily was secured into a rescue harness first, her small body lifted into the dark, rainy sky toward the hovering Blackhawk, followed immediately by me.
By midnight, we were in the warm, sterile haven of the county regional hospital.
The doctors wrapped Lily in heated blankets, treated her for mild hypothermia, and dressed the minor abrasions on her legs. She was finally sleeping soundly in a pediatric bed, IV fluids slowly rehydrating her tiny frame, her battered stuffed rabbit tucked firmly under her chin.
I sat in the plastic chair beside her, wearing a pair of donated hospital scrubs. My hands and knees were bandaged where the glass and woods had cut me, but I felt no physical pain. My mind was entirely numb, focused solely on the rhythmic rise and fall of my daughter's chest.
Around 1:30 AM, the heavy wooden doors of the pediatric ward swung open.
My mother swept in first, draped in a dry beige trench coat, carrying a designer leather handbag on her forearm. Behind her was my father, wearing a dry windbreaker, his face pulled into an expression of theatrical distress. And right behind them, holding a cup of takeout coffee and scrolling lazily on her phone, was my twenty-four-year-old sister, Nicole.
""Oh, thank heaven! Jenna! We heard the news on the radio!"" Mom cried out, rushing forward with her arms outstretched as if she were stepping onto a stage. ""We've been sick with worry! Absolutely sick!""
I didn't move. I didn't stand up. I simply looked at her, my eyes cold and dead.
Mom hesitated, dropping her hands awkwardly. ""The police told us you were brought here. It is a miracle. A literal miracle from God that you both survived.""
""A miracle?"" My voice was barely a whisper, but it carried enough venom to make my father stop three paces back. ""You left her to drown.""
""Now wait just a minute, Jenna,"" Dad interrupted, stepping forward with his chest puffed out, reverting instantly to his authoritative patriarch tone. ""You don't understand what happened. The water was rising in seconds. The driveway was turning into an ocean. We had to make an emergency executive decision.""
""An executive decision?"" I stood up slowly from the chair. Though I was half a foot shorter than my father, he instinctively took a step back at the look in my eyes. ""You looked my crying child in the face, told her she wasn't your responsibility, pushed her off your coat, and locked the front door behind you.""
""We thought she was right behind us!"" Mom lied smoothly, her eyes darting toward the door as if checking for witnesses. ""It was chaos! The thunder was so loud, we couldn't hear anything! Robert thought she was in the backseat!""
""Mom, stop,"" Nicole chimed in, rolling her eyes and flicking her salon-styled blonde hair over her shoulder. ""Jenna, you're always so dramatic. Mom and Dad had to save the family valuables. My entire vintage jewelry collection was in that master bedroom—over fifty thousand dollars worth of estate pieces that aren't fully insured yet. If they had stayed an extra two minutes searching for Lily in the dark, the car would have been swept away. Everyone made it out fine. Why do you always have to turn yourself into the victim?""
I stared at Nicole. She was wearing diamond stud earrings that I had purchased for her college graduation—paid for with overtime hours while I ate instant noodles.
""You think fifty thousand dollars of jewelry is worth more than my daughter's life?"" I asked her, my voice eerily calm.
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""I didn't say that!"" Nicole snapped defensively. ""I'm just saying, Lily is fine! Look at her, she's asleep! Stop attacking Mom and Dad after the horrific trauma they just experienced losing their home!""
""Trauma?"" A dry, bitter laugh escaped my throat. ""You have no idea what trauma looks like, Nicole. But you're about to find out.""
