The Phone Call That Changed Everything
A few hours later, my phone rang while I was at work.
It was Miss Greenwood, Ava’s daycare teacher, and the second I heard the panic in her voice, I knew something was wrong.
“Mrs. Carter,” she said quickly, without greeting, “Ava suddenly became very sick during class. The ambulance has already taken her to the hospital.”
She gave me the name of the hospital.
I was out the door before she finished speaking.
Mark met me at the hospital entrance, pale and shaken.
“She’s gonna be okay,” he kept saying.
I believed him because I had to.
After forty horrific minutes in the waiting room, the doctor walked toward us wearing the expression people only have when they’re about to change your life forever.
“I’m very sorry,” he said gently. “She had a severe allergic reaction. We did everything we could. But she didn’t make it.”
I just stared at him.
Because none of it made sense.
Ava had been perfectly fine that morning.
