Chapter 2 - Mia Was Already Overheating
Silvio unlocked the SUV immediately.
The rear door swung open.
Ethan nearly fell out.
He grabbed his father’s jacket with both hands.
“Mia first!”
Silvio reached across him.
His daughter was conscious, but limp with exhaustion.
Her cheeks were deeply flushed.
Her hair clung damply to her forehead.
Silvio lifted her carefully.
“Baby. Look at me.”
Mia whimpered.
“Daddy…”
That single word gave him enough air to keep functioning.
A bodyguard took Ethan while Silvio carried Mia inside the resort, where medical staff had already been called.
The children were moved into an air-conditioned first-aid room.
Cool cloths.
Water in careful amounts.
Vital signs.
Then transport to a nearby hospital for evaluation.
Neither child had sustained serious injury.
Ethan was frightened and dehydrated.
Mia had early heat exhaustion but recovered quickly once cooled and hydrated.
The doctor told Silvio something that stayed with him.
“Another significant delay could have changed the situation.”
Silvio sat beside Mia’s bed and felt his hands begin shaking.
Not from anger anymore.
From the realization of time.
Ten more minutes?
Twenty?
He didn’t want to know.
Ethan sat on the other side of the room wrapped in a hospital blanket despite insisting he wasn’t cold.
Silvio crouched beside him.
“How long were you in there?”
“I wasn’t.”
Silvio frowned.
“What?”
“Mia was.”
His stomach dropped.
“How long?”
Ethan swallowed.
“I don’t know. When Uncle Grant grabbed me, Mia was already crying inside.”
Silvio looked toward his daughter.
“Who put her there?”
Ethan’s answer came immediately.
“Aunt Lucinda.”
The room seemed to narrow.
“What happened?”
Ethan hesitated.
Then whispered:
“She said Mia needed to wait in the car while you were in your meeting.”
“And you?”
“I said I was getting you.”
“What did Grant do?”
Ethan looked down.
“He told me not to.”
“And then?”
“I ran.”
Silvio already knew the rest.
Grant caught him.
Dragged him back.
Shoved him inside too.
Then locked the door.
Ethan looked up at his father.
“Dad?”
“Yes?”
“Why did Uncle Grant ask if we were still alive?”
Silvio could not answer.
May you like
Because he was asking himself the same thing.
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