Chapter 17 - Three Seconds
I thought he was lying.
I wanted him to be lying.
The final call had been made at 3:41 a.m.
Lily died at 3:42.
According to the phone log I saw, David never answered.
But detailed carrier records told a different story.
Connected duration: three seconds.
The call had ended so quickly the simplified screen displayed it as unanswered.
Adrian confirmed it that afternoon.
I sat in his office with my hands locked together.
“What happened during those three seconds?”
“We only have David’s account.”
“There’s no recording?”
“No.”
I wanted to scream.
Instead, I asked to see David again.
Rachel tried to stop me.
I went anyway.
David sat behind the glass.
I did not bother with greetings.
“What did you hear?”
He looked down.
“Breathing.”
“Whose?”
“I didn’t know.”
“What else?”
“A machine.”
“What else?”
David’s face crumpled.
“A little voice.”
My throat closed.
“What did she say?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Tell me.”
“It sounded like Daddy.”
The room blurred.
I gripped the edge of the counter.
David started crying.
“I was drunk.”
“I thought I imagined it.”
“Then why did you hang up?”
He covered his face.
“Julianne came outside.”
“What?”
“She asked who I was talking to.”
“And?”
“I looked at the number.”
“I realized it was you.”
“So you hung up?”
He nodded.
My body went cold.
“You heard Lily say Daddy.”
“I didn’t know it was her.”
“You heard a child.”
“Yes.”
“You heard machines.”
“Yes.”
“You knew a pediatric hospital had been calling.”
“Yes.”
“And you still disconnected.”
David lowered his head.
“Yes.”
I stood.
He looked up in panic.
“Maya.”
I placed the phone against the glass.
“You didn’t miss the last chance.”
His face twisted.
“You had it.”
“And you threw it away.”
I walked out.
For the next two days, I could not sleep.
Three seconds.
I replayed them in my imagination until I thought I would lose my mind.
Then Lily’s ICU nurse called me.
Her name was Hannah.
She had been with us that night.
“I heard about the phone connection.”
I sat on my bed.
“Was Lily awake?”
“Barely.”
“Did she speak?”
Hannah paused.
“Yes.”
My tears started instantly.
“What did she say?”
“She said Daddy.”
I covered my mouth.
Hannah continued softly.
“But Maya, listen to me.”
“She wasn’t alone.”
“You were holding her.”
“She knew you were there.”
I closed my eyes.
“You told her he was coming.”
“Yes.”
“She believed you.”
The words broke something inside me.
Not because I had lied.
Because Lily died believing her father was on his way.
May you like
And maybe that belief had comforted her.
I decided I would not let David destroy that too.
