“I thought you were gone,” I whispered.
Then Daniel appeared in the doorway.
Chloe turned.
“Dad?”
He froze.
“You knew she was alive,” I said quietly.
“No,” he replied—but his voice didn’t hold.
I took Chloe’s hand.
“We’re leaving.”
He followed us.
“You can’t just take her!”
“Watch me.”
I drove straight to my sister Rachel’s house.
When she opened the door and saw Chloe, she gasped.
“It’s really you…”
They hugged, both crying.
“I don’t know everything yet,” I told her. “But something isn’t right. I need to find out the truth.”
Chloe grabbed my hand.
“Please don’t let him take me back,” she whispered.
“I won’t,” I promised.
I went straight to the hospital where Chloe had been treated.
The doctor—Dr. Harris—looked shocked to see me.
“How is my daughter alive?” I demanded.
He hesitated… then told me everything.
Chloe had never been brain dead.
She had shown signs of recovery.
Small, but real.
My hands shook.
“Then why was I told she died?”
“Your husband said you couldn’t handle it,” he admitted. “He took control of her care. He arranged her transfer to a private facility.”
When I got home, Daniel was waiting.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“Safe.”
I looked him straight in the eyes.