Chapter 4 - The Emergency Room Lights
Twenty minutes later, the sterile, fluorescent lights of St. Jude’s Emergency Room hummed overhead.
Lily was wrapped in three heated blankets in trauma bay four, a pediatric nurse gently checking her core temperature while a resident physician shone a light into her dilated eyes.
“Core body temperature was ninety-four point two when you brought her in,” Dr. Vance said, looking up from his clipboard with a grim expression. “She was bordering on mild hypothermia. Coupled with the bruises on her arms and the frost irritation on her skin, this isn't an accident, Mr. Hayes.”
“It’s not,” I said, my fists clenched so tight my knuckles were bone-white. I stood beside the bed, holding Lily’s small, warm hand. She had finally stopped shivering, her eyelids heavy from the pediatric warmth and exhaustion.
“By law, I am required to contact Child Protective Services and local law enforcement immediately given the nature of these injuries,” Dr. Vance continued gently. “An officer is already waiting outside.”
“Let them in,” I said without hesitation.
A moment later, a tall detective with kind eyes and a tired posture walked into the bay, holding a small notepad.
“Mr. Hayes? I’m Detective Miller, Denver Police Department. Hospital staff briefed me on the preliminary findings. Can you tell me exactly what happened tonight?”
For the next twenty minutes, I laid it all bare. I told him about the divorce, the sudden message to pick up my boxes, the open garage door, the muffled cries, and the words Lily had whispered to me before we fled. I told him about hearing Taylor and Evelyn discussing the freezer in the garage just minutes before we escaped.
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Detective Miller listened without interrupting, his pen scratching rhythmically across the paper. When I finished, he closed the notepad with a soft snap.
“If what your daughter says is true—and the medical evidence strongly supports her statement—we are looking at felony child abuse, unlawful imprisonment, and reckless endangerment,” Detective Miller said, his voice hard. “I’m dispatching a patrol unit to Aspen Ridge Lane right now to secure the premises and detain both Taylor Hayes and Evelyn Vance before they realize you’ve taken her.”
