ightly so he could see her face. “She fell,” Emily said, her voice barely holding. “She hit the ground. She’s bruised, and she’s quiet, David, I don’t— I don’t know if she’s hurt. Please take her in. I have to stay with Ranger. He saved her. He saved her.”
David didn’t waste a second. He took Lily gently, holding her like something sacred. “I’ve got her,” he said softly. “Go. Stay with him. Call me as soon as they tell you anything.” He ran for his car, buckled Lily in, and pulled out of the lot toward urgent care. 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.
“They’re checking her over now,” he said, his voice tight with controlled worry. “So far, they think it’s just shock and bruises. They want to do an X-ray to be sure. How is he?” The question hung between them, heavy with unspoken fear. “I don’t know,” Emily admitted, her throat tight. “No one’s come out yet.” She could hear the hollow sound of her own voice echoing in the sterile silence. “I’ll call the second I hear anything. Tell Lily… tell her I love her.” “She knows,” David said. “We both do. Just be there for him, Em.” He ended the call, leaving her alone again with the hum of fluorescent lights and the scent of antiseptic.
Time lost all meaning. Each minute stretched into an hour. She watched the clock, watched the door to the back, watched other people come and go with their own quiet tragedies. Every time the door swung open, her heart leapt into her throat, only to sink again when it wasn’t for her. She replayed the vet tech’s expression, searching for a clue—had it been hopeless urgency, or focused determination? She couldn’t tell. Finally, after an eternity, the door opened and a woman in scrubs, her face etched with the kind of calm professionalism that comes from long nights, stepped out. Her eyes scanned the room and landed on Emily. “Mrs. Thorne? For Ranger?” Emily stood so quickly the world tilted. She could only nod, bracing herself for the words to come.