Ten-year-old Lily sat at the edge of the polished mahogany dining table holding her pencil tight.
The sunlight filtered through the grand stained-glass windows of the sprawling Virginia estate.
Her father, Arthur Vance, stood near his mahogany desk reading over a heavy stack of legal documents.
He was a quiet man who always wore crisp black suits and carried a gentle smile.
Lily loved her father more than anyone else in the entire world after her mother passed away.
She watched as his hand suddenly trembled while he tried to sign a white paper.
Arthur dropped his favorite pen, and it rolled across the cold marble floor toward the doorway.
He gripped his chest hard with both hands and let out a deep, painful gasp.
Lily jumped up from her wooden chair as her heart started beating extremely fast.
"Daddy, are you feeling okay?" she asked while walking quickly toward him.
Arthur did not answer her question as his face turned pale and twisted in deep pain.
He took three slow steps back toward the grand staircase near the center entrance hall.
His heavy black dress shoes slipped slightly on the smooth surface of the bottom step.
"No, please, someone get help right now!" Arthur whispered in a weak, raspy voice.
He reached out for the golden handrail, but his fingers slipped off the polished wood.
His knees buckled under his heavy weight, and he collapsed directly onto the hard floor.
A loud, thudding sound echoed through the high ceilings of the empty foyer.
Arthur lay motionless on his side near the base of the massive American flag hanging above.
Lily screamed his name out loud as tears instantly filled her big brown eyes.
She sprinted across the wide room in her little white lace dress as fast as possible.
"Daddy, please wake up right now!" she cried while dropping to her knees beside him.
His eyes were half-closed, and his breathing sounded harsh, shallow, and extremely irregular.
Lily remembered the small black leather pouch her father always kept in his inner coat pocket.
Her hands trembled as she reached into his heavy jacket to find the small case.
She unzipped the pocket and pulled out a small glass syringe filled with red liquid.
Her father had shown her this special needle once during a quiet evening last summer.
He had told her that this liquid was his emergency medicine for his rare heart condition.
Lily quickly tore open a small white alcohol pad from the side zipper compartment.
She wiped a spot on his upper arm just like she had seen the doctor do before.
With a fast and firm press, she injected the liquid right into his arm muscle.
She pulled the needle back immediately and pressed a clean tissue over the small mark.
Arthur gasped loudly as his lungs suddenly filled with a deep breath of cold air.
His chest started rising and falling rhythmically as his color began slowly returning to normal.
Lily wiped her wet cheeks and hugged his arm while crying softly from pure relief.
She did not realize that someone was watching her from the top of the stairs.