Chapter 4 - The Gray Sedan
The cold November rain hit Ethan’s face the moment he pushed through the brass-hinged side exit of the Ashworth Estate.
The storm had picked up while they were inside, turning the manicured estate gardens into a dark sea of wet gravel and swaying hemlocks. Steam rose from the outdoor heaters line along the terrace, where a dozen catering staff stood in shock, watching the groom sprint through the rain in his custom tuxedo, holding a six-year-old girl wrapped tightly in his jacket.
"Which car, Daisy?" Ethan asked, his voice trembling against the wind as he shielded her head with his arm. "Show me where Mommy is."
Daisy pointed a wet, trembling finger toward the dark, unlit rear parking lot, past the towering silver catering vans. "The gray one under the big pine tree. She said she was going to rest her eyes for a little bit."
Rest her eyes.
The words hit Ethan like a physical blow, sending a wave of ice straight into his gut. He broke into a full sprint, his expensive dress shoes skidding on the wet asphalt as he cut through the shadows toward the isolated gray sedan.
The car was an ancient, rusted sedan with a dented passenger door and Vermont license plates. The windows were heavily fogged from the inside, covered in thin streams of condensation.
Ethan reached the driver's side, pulling frantically on the door handle. It was locked.
"Clara!" Ethan slammed his palm against the wet glass, his voice cracking with sheer terror. "Clara, open the door! It's me! It's Ethan!"
Through the foggy glass, he could barely make out the thin silhouette of a woman slumped sideways in the driver's seat, her head resting awkwardly against the steering wheel. Her left hand hung limply near the seatbelt buckle, her fingers pale and unmoving.
"Mommy!" Daisy cried out from Ethan's arms, her quiet composure finally shattering into terrified, heartbreaking sobs. "Mommy, wake up! I brought him! I gave him the key!"
Ethan didn't hesitate. He shifted Daisy to his left arm, stepped back, and slammed his heavy right boot straight into the rear driver-side window.
The glass shattered with a loud, exploding crack, spraying dark crystals across the asphalt and the back seat. Ethan reached his arm inside through the jagged frame, unlocked the front door from the interior panel, and ripped the driver's door open.
A wave of bitter, cold air rushed into the car.
"Clara!"
He reached inside, sliding his hands under her shoulders, pulling her out of the cramped driver's seat and onto the wet pavement under the shelter of the pine tree.
She was impossibly thin. The vibrant, laughing woman he had held seven years ago felt like a shadow, her weight almost nonexistent beneath a faded wool coat. Her face was pale as marble, dark purple shadows hollowed out beneath her closed eyes, and her skin was ice-cold to the touch.
Ethan dropped to his knees in the mud, pulling her upper body onto his lap, pressing two frantic fingers against the side of her neck.
For three agonizing seconds, there was nothing.
"Please," Ethan sobbed, wiping the freezing rain from his eyes as he pressed his ear to her thin chest. "Please, God, don't do this to me. Not today. Not after seven years..."
A faint, fluttering pulse tapped weakly against his fingers.
Thump... thump... thump.
She was alive, but barely. Her breathing was shallow, a faint, rattling whisper against the cold afternoon air.
Footsteps pounded across the wet gravel behind them. Marcus came sprinting around the corner of the catering van, holding his coat over his head, followed closely by two estate paramedics carrying a orange emergency trauma kit.
"I called the private ambulance from the city hospital!" Marcus shouted over the roar of the rain, dropping to his knees beside Ethan in the mud. "They're three minutes out! Ethan, is she—"
"She's breathing," Ethan choked out, his tears mixing with the rain pouring down his face as he kissed Clara's freezing forehead, her pale lips, her hollowed cheeks. "She's breathing, Marcus. Get the paramedics here now!"
May you like
Daisy knelt in the wet grass beside them, her small, trembling hand reaching out to wrap around Clara’s limp, thin fingers.
"Mommy," the little girl whispered softly, her golden-brown eyes wide with an absolute, pure love that broke Ethan's heart into a thousand pieces. "Wake up. The man with the other key is here."
