Chapter 2
Sirens wailed in the distance, a harsh and jarring intrusion against the manicured hedges and white floral arrangements of the wedding venue. The guests had retreated toward the main manor house, their murmurs of shock and concern dissolving into anxious clusters near the French doors. Only a few remained on the grass. Julian stood rigidly beside the shattered wooden letters, his black tuxedo jacket unbuttoned, his breathing heavy and uneven. Clara sat in a white folding chair, her bridal veil discarded on the grass beside her, staring blankly at her trembling hands. The diamond earrings she wore seemed heavy, pressing down on her ears as if they were made of lead.
Elena remained kneeling beside Lily, whose light blue dress was now stained with a thin streak of dirt from the turf. The paramedics were racing across the lawn, their heavy medical kits swinging at their sides. Elena kept her fingers pressed to the child’s wrist, monitoring the faint, rapid pulse that fluttered beneath the skin. She looked up as the lead paramedic dropped to his knees, his expression professional and grim.
“She took a glancing blow to the shoulder, but her head hit the base of the sign,” Elena reported quietly, her tone steady despite the tremor in her hands. “She was unconscious before she hit the ground. Breathing is shallow, pupils are sluggish.”
The paramedic nodded, immediately shining a penlight into Lily’s eyes while signaling his partner to bring the spinal board. Julian stepped forward, his voice tight with suppressed panic. “Is she going to be all right? Please tell me she’s going to be all right.”
The paramedic didn’t look up as he strapped a cervical collar around Lily’s neck. “We need to get her to General Hospital immediately. Head trauma in children requires immediate imaging to rule out internal bleeding. Who is her legal guardian?”
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Clara stood up, her legs shaking beneath the heavy layers of her lace skirt. “I am. Her parents are stuck in international transit. I’m her older cousin, but she’s been living with us.”
“Get in the back of the rig with her,” the paramedic instructed firmly, gesturing toward the open doors of the ambulance idling near the driveway. Julian wrapped an arm around Clara’s trembling waist, guiding her away from the altar that was supposed to witness their union. Elena stood up, brushing a stray piece of wood from the hem of her grey dress, her mind already racing past the immediate emergency toward the complicated reality awaiting them at the hospital.
