“I won’t,” Paige said softly, hands raised. “I just need to check her breathing. Can you let me help while you stay with her?”
He searched her face, desperate for truth. Finding it, he carefully laid Lily on the gurney, his hands shaking with care.
Doctors moved in fast, calm and precise. Monitors beeped. Scissors cut through dirty fabric. Orders were called. The controlled chaos of survival.
Eli stood frozen, one hand never leaving Lily’s ankle.
Dr. Sofia Mendez, head of trauma, knelt in front of him. She spoke gently.
“You were very brave,” she said. “You did exactly right.”
He nodded. Heroes didn’t smile, he thought. Heroes stayed alive.
Half an hour later, Detective Aaron Cole stepped quietly into the room. Years in child protection had hardened him, but he left authority at the door. He sat low and spoke gently.
“Mind if I sit with you?”
Eli shrugged. That small movement carried too much history.
“What’s your name?” Cole asked.
“Eli Carter.”
“And the baby?”
“Lily Carter. She’s… she’s my job.”
Cole swallowed. “Eli… did someone hurt you?”
Eli lifted his shirt.
Cole turned away.
Bruises layered over bruises. Burns. Marks of long, deliberate cruelty. Not accidents. Choices.