The ambulance came racing into the ER entrance of the hospital.
"We need trauma room, now!" one of the medics called out the moment the doors opened.
Doctors and nurses rushed out with a gurney. Cassidy stepped back only to follow them immediately as they wheeled Claire in, with urgent instructions being shouted around her.
"BP's dropping!"
"Get me two units of O-neg, stat!"
"Prep for emergency surgery!"
Someone tried to hold Cassidy back. "Ma'am, we'll take it from here—"
"No!" she cried out. "Please... I have to stay with her!"
A nurse gently but firmly placed her hand on Cassidy's arm. "She's in the best hands now. I promise we'll update you as soon as we can. Let us work."
Cassidy stood frozen, her body trembling, her mind refusing to process what was happening. Claire disappeared behind double doors… and just like that, Cassidy was alone.
The silence that followed was deafening.
