AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Isabel. I need Isabel. She must be terrified.
Remi.
This is going to devastate her little heart. My baby.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Keller.” Officer Taylor is calm, but it does nothing for the chaos in my head. “He’s in surgery at Northwestern Hospital. His sister is there with him now.”
Pleas for Remi ricochet around the room. I don’t realize they are coming from me until Jay stops me.
“You are not helping him like this.” Holding my arms, they shake me. “Snap out of it, Mae.”
Tears blur my vision, and I can’t see anything except the conjured image of Remi’s lifeless body on the ground, followed by Isabel screaming in terror. It runs in a sick, merciless loop around my brain. Despair explodes in my head.
“No, no, no, no, nooo,” I wail.
I don’t remember leaving the office. Or riding in the back of a police cruiser. Or stopping at a brownstone I’ve never seen in my life.
“What are we doing here?” Where’s my daughter? Where’s Remi?
“Isabel is here, Mae.” Jay’s voice is soothing.
The officers help me out of the car and when we go to the front door, a man with dark hair, about my age, opens it and ushers us in.
“Your daughter is here. She has a minor scuff on her hand, but other than that, she’s perfect.”
My panic doesn’t subside. That’s the second time I heard that word today—perfect. There’s nothing perfect about this. Nothing at all.
“Where is she?” I ask, barreling my way through the house in a raging storm. “Isabel!”
“She’s in the kitchen, playing with my son, Jackson,” the man explains, hot on my heels. He takes my elbow and steers me in the right direction.
Struggling for air, I search for my beautiful baby girl. As soon as I spot her, I’m finally able to take a full breath.
When Isabel notices me, big fat tears form in her eyes. “Mommy!” She drops whatever it is she’s playing with and runs to me.
I kneel and catch her in my arms. Relief is sweet but fleeting. She buries her face in my neck and screams for her Emmie.
“Shhh, he’s going to be okay, baby. Shhh.” I rock and comfort her, keeping a leash on my emotions. Isabel needs me to be strong, and I can do anything for her.
Jay wraps us in their arms. “Everything is going to be alright.”
Isabel cries harder.
“Unty Jay has never lied to you before, right?”
With her face still buried, she nods.
“I promise, everything will be just fine,” Jay reassures. I wish I had their faith.
I continue to soothe and sway Isabel in my arms. A tornado of emotions tears through me: relief that Isabel is okay, distress because Remi is not, love because it fucking hurts, and anger because I want to find out who did this. Who was so careless that they practically ripped my world apart?
Eventually, Isabel quiets and falls asleep.
“Jay, will you call a cab? We need to take Isabel home.” And I need to get to Remi.
The man who greeted us at the door carefully approaches us, looking grim. “You can stay here until we get news about Remi.”
“W-who are you?” I ask, still clinging to my baby.
