Emily watched them go until their taillights disappeared. Then she turned back toward the clinic doors — the same doors Ranger had been rushed through — and forced herself inside, her stomach twisting into knots.
The waiting room felt painfully bright. Too bright for how dark her thoughts were. She sat down only to stand again a second later. Pacing. Pressing her palm to her mouth. Replaying everything like a nightmare:
Lily falling. Ranger lunging. Ranger collapsing. The snake rolling lifeless from the grass. He hadn’t attacked her child. He had saved her. Her guilt kept looping until she couldn’t breathe. She hadn’t realized how long she spent sitting there until her phone buzzed in her pocket — sharp, startling. David.
Her breath caught as she answered. “David?” “She’s okay,” he said immediately. “Bruised, but okay. They checked her spine, her ribs — she’s sore, but she’s fine, Em. She’s fine.” Her eyes stung with sudden, overwhelming relief. She pressed a shaking hand to her forehead. “Thank God… oh, thank God.” “Stay with Ranger,” David said gently. “I’ll keep you updated from here.”