The engine roared to life as Richard pulled out of the long estate driveway at full speed.
He placed his hand gently on Maya's shoulder while keeping his eyes fixed firmly on the open road.
The small town hospital was ten miles away, and every passing second felt like an eternity to him.
He dialed the emergency dispatch center using his car's hands-free phone system with a shaking voice.
Richard: My four-year-old daughter took a fall on marble stairs! She has a head injury and is unresponsive!
Dispatcher: Sir, keep calm, an emergency medical team will meet you directly at the trauma entrance doors.
Richard: Please tell them to be ready, she is breathing very shallowly right now!
Richard pressed his foot harder on the accelerator as the red brick hospital building came into view.
He slammed his brakes near the emergency room sliding doors and threw the car gear into park.
Two paramedics and a trauma physician rushed outside holding a high-tech rolling gurney ready for action.
Richard: SAVE HER! SOMEBODY SAVE MY BABY GIRL!
Doctor: We need an emergency trauma team in room three right now! Move quickly, team!
The medical staff gently transferred Maya onto the clean sheets of the rolling gurney.
Richard ran alongside the gurney as they pushed through the double swinging doors into the sterile corridor.
The bright fluorescent lights flickered overhead as nurses connected vital monitors to the young child.
Richard: Please do not let her slip away from me, doctor, she is all I have left!
Doctor: We are doing everything possible, sir, but you must remain outside this treatment room line.
The heavy doors closed shut in Richard's face, leaving him standing alone in the quiet waiting area.
He collapsed onto a vinyl chair and buried his face inside his blood-stained, trembling hands.
The rhythmic sound of distant heart monitors filled the hallway as doctors worked tirelessly inside.
An hour passed in suffocating silence before the lead physician finally stepped out into the waiting lobby.
Doctor: Mr. Vance, your daughter has suffered a mild concussion, but the brain scans show no internal bleeding.
Richard let out a long, ragged breath of overwhelming relief as tears filled his tired eyes again.
Richard: Is she going to be okay? Can I see her right now?
Doctor: She is awake and stable, sir, but she mentioned something very concerning about how she fell.