“No,” I said.
It came out flat.
He softened his voice.
“I understand. But we need the air tested, and we need statements separated. The garage may still be unsafe.”
Statements separated.
Air tested.
Garage unsafe.
Process words, lined up like little walls between me and the people I loved.
They moved Chloe first.
I walked beside the stretcher until a paramedic told me I had to let them load her.
Her hand was limp in mine.
I bent close to her ear.
“I’m here, baby,” I said. “I’m right here.”
Her eyelids fluttered.
For one second, I thought she might wake up.
She didn’t.
Daniel was loaded into the second ambulance four minutes later.
At 3:52 p.m., both ambulances pulled away.
I did not go with either one.
That is the part people judge until it happens to them.
One officer told me the hospital would call as soon as they could.
