Chapter 2

[Mommy! Ask someone for help!]

The voice cut through the darkness just as I was about to go under again.

I dragged myself to the guardrail.

"Please—" My voice came out in a ragged whisper. "Please. Someone help my baby."

Heads turned.

Within seconds, strangers were running toward me.

"There's a woman down over here!"

"She's got a newborn — the baby's head is bleeding! Someone call 911!"

"She's still breathing! Help me move her!"

More people came. Then more.

"I have a first-aid kit in my car!"

"Get them away from the wreckage — it's not safe here! Anyone know first aid?"

"I do!" A young woman shoved through without hesitating. "Let me through!"

Tears ran down my face before I could stop them.

In my worst moment, it was strangers who came.

They carried us carefully to an open stretch of road away from the flames.

"Ma'am, can you hear me? Can you tell me how you feel?"

A calm voice. Close.

I managed a nod.

"She's conscious!" he called out immediately.

Someone ran back to their car for a first-aid kit. A young woman knelt beside me and began checking my wounds, then the baby's.

"Don't be scared," she said softly. "Your little girl looks okay. Just surface cuts. She's tough."

The people around us moved with quiet efficiency. Some passed supplies. Others held back the gathering crowd.

Then an older woman crouched down beside me, holding something small between her fingers.

"Sweetheart — is this yours?"

A ring.

My engagement ring.

I stared at it. I remembered the night Julian proposed — how nervous he'd been.

He knelt down. When I said "I do," tears streamed down his face.

His hand trembled as he put the ring on my finger, vowing to love me for the rest of his life.

[Mommy. He's not worth it.]

My baby's voice was gentle. Heartbroken for me.

I turned my face away from the ring.

A man nearby was already on his phone, furious.

"Hello? 911? Interstate pile-up — multiple vehicles! I've got a woman here who just gave birth and her infant — both seriously injured, both bleeding! When are you people getting here?!"

The voice that came through the phone made me utterly desperate.

It was Luke.

"Claire." His tone was bone-dry. "Wasn't I clear enough the first time? Stop wasting emergency resources. We're busy."

The man stared at his phone and then exploded.

"Who the hell are you talking to?! What do you mean you're busy?! There are people dying out here — doesn't that mean anything to you?! You're supposed to prioritize!"

Luke paused. Then, dripping with contempt:

"Nice try, Claire. Hiring actors now? I'll admit, this one's convincing."

"You—"

Before the man could fire back, a thunderous crash shook the interstate.

A heavy freight truck had lost control and plowed into the wreckage ahead of us.

The sound roared through the phone.

Luke finally realized the seriousness of the situation.

"That sound... how bad is it over there? Everyone hold on — I'm redirecting units to your location right now."

The people around me exhaled in shaky relief.

But I heard something no one else could hear again, and those were my baby's mind voices.

[Mommy, he's lying. He still thinks you're faking. He didn't send anyone.]

[Tell everyone to run. That freight truck — it's about to explode.]