“Emily?” I whispered.
No response.
Beside her lay Noah, wrapped in a dirty blanket with dry lips, burning skin, and a tiny body so hot it terrified me the second I touched him.
I picked him up, but he barely moved.
“Emily!”
I shook her shoulder harder. Nothing. Her skin was burning. Too hot.
I turned toward the hallway and screamed so loudly I barely recognized my own voice.
“MOM!”
My mother and Ashley rushed into the room, but the second they saw Emily, both of them froze completely. Not shocked. Not frightened. Frozen like people suddenly facing consequences they never expected to meet.
“What happened to her?” I shouted.
Mom’s lips trembled.
“She was fine last night.”
“Fine?” I screamed. “She’s unconscious!”
Ashley slowly stepped backward.
“Maybe she’s pretending,” she muttered. “She always wanted attention after the baby came.”
For one terrible second, I forgot Ashley was my sister.
