Chapter 1 - Nobody Moves

The distant sirens grew louder.

Marissa took another slow step toward the garden gate.

Noah raised his voice without taking his eyes off her.

“Nobody moves.”

“I’m pressing charges.”

The entire backyard froze.

My father, Richard, stood beside the barbecue grill with a pair of metal tongs still in his hand.

My mother, Helen, covered her mouth.

My uncle looked toward the house as though he were considering another exit.

Only my teenage cousin, Luke, continued moving.

He held his phone in front of him.

The camera was still recording.

Marissa saw it.

Her fake tears stopped immediately.

“Turn that off.”

Luke did not move.

“You recorded me without permission.”

“You kicked a pregnant woman in front of twenty people.”

He replied.

“Delete it.”

My father ordered.

Luke looked at him.

“Why?”

“This is a private family situation.”

Noah’s expression hardened.

“It became a criminal situation when Marissa deliberately assaulted my wife.”

I lay on the grass with both hands wrapped around my stomach.

The pain came in waves.

But the silence inside my body terrified me more.

Our daughter usually kicked whenever voices became loud.

She moved after cold drinks.

She moved when Noah sang badly.

Now there was nothing.

“Noah.”

I whispered.

He dropped beside me again.

“She still isn’t moving.”

Marissa started crying louder.

“She was threatening me.”

“She came toward me.”

“I was protecting myself.”

Luke lifted his phone.

“The video shows Claire walking away.”

My mother rushed toward him.

“Luke, please.”

“This family has suffered enough.”

He stepped backward.

“Claire is the one on the ground.”

An ambulance stopped outside the gate.

Two paramedics ran across the lawn.

One knelt beside me.

The other opened a medical bag.

“What happened?”

The paramedic asked.

“My sister kicked my stomach.”

I said.

“I’m twenty-six weeks pregnant.”

Marissa shouted from behind them.

“It was an accident.”

Noah pointed toward Luke.

“It was recorded.”

The paramedic placed a monitor against my abdomen.

Static filled the small speaker.

No heartbeat appeared.

My breath stopped.

“Please try again.”

The paramedic adjusted the device.

Everyone in the backyard became silent.

Then a rapid rhythm came through the speaker.

Faint.

Uneven.

But there.

I began sobbing.

Noah pressed his forehead against my hand.

The paramedic’s expression remained serious.

“We need to transport her immediately.”

They lifted me onto a stretcher.

Marissa approached.

“Claire, tell them I didn’t mean it.”

I looked at her face.

She was not watching me.

She was watching the police car entering the driveway.

“You looked directly at my baby before you kicked me.”

I said.

Her face collapsed.

My father stepped between Marissa and the officers.

“My daughters had an argument.”

“No one intended for anyone to get hurt.”

Luke held out his phone.

“This shows what happened.”

My father grabbed for it.

Luke pulled away.

An officer moved between them.

“Sir, step back.”

My father’s voice became sharp.

“He is a minor.”

“I am his uncle.”

“That does not give you the right to destroy evidence.”

The officer replied.

My father lowered his hand.

The paramedics rolled me toward the ambulance.

My mother hurried beside the stretcher.

“Claire, sweetheart.”

“Whatever happens, remember that Marissa is still your sister.”

Noah stopped walking.

He turned toward her.

“And Claire is still your daughter.”

My mother’s face went pale.

The ambulance doors closed.

Through the rear window, I saw an officer place handcuffs around Marissa’s wrists.

She screamed my name.

Then the pain in my stomach suddenly became sharper.

A red light began flashing on the monitor.

The paramedic leaned over me.

“Claire, stay awake.”

I grabbed Noah’s hand.

“What’s happening?”

He looked toward the monitor.

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For the first time since the kick, he could not answer me.

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