“She’s alive,” he called to them. “Help is coming.”
The ambulance arrived fast. Police followed. Melissa was rushed out. The girls tried to follow, crying.
“Please,” Ethan said to the officer. “They’re in shock. Let them come with me.”
The officer hesitated, then nodded.
At the hospital, Melissa went straight into surgery. The twins—Lily and Emma—refused to let go of Ethan’s hand.
The social worker, Karen, looked uncertain. “You’re family?”
“No,” Ethan admitted. “I’ve known them less than an hour.”
Karen sighed. “Then you’re still the only safe thing they have. Can you stay?”
“Yes,” he said immediately.
Rachel arrived later with Lucas. Without a word, Lucas handed Lily his favorite toy car. Then he draped his superhero jacket over Emma’s shoulders.
“You’re cold,” he said.
Something tightened in Ethan’s chest.
That night, police took statements. Lily whispered that one of the attackers was their father—Mark Grant.
Everything made sense.
Hours later, the surgeon emerged. Melissa was alive. Critical, but stable.
The girls refused to go home.
“They’re staying with me,” Ethan said firmly.
That night, his apartment filled with borrowed pajamas and whispered fears. At dawn, Emma climbed into his arms.