Paramedic: Ma'am, stay still! We need to apply a pressure dressing to this side wound immediately!
Clara: My daughter... make sure she's okay first...
Paramedic: The little girl is uninjured, ma'am. She's a tough kid. But you've lost a lot of blood. We need to get you to St. Jude's Hospital right now.
The paramedics carefully lifted me onto the orange stretcher, securing the safety straps across my chest. Lily walked right beside the gurney, holding my hand tightly as we were wheeled out through the front doors into the cool night air.
Outside, news reporters who had monitored the police radio frequency were already swarming the driveway, camera flashes exploding in the darkness as Marcus was loaded into the back of a patrol car.
Reporter A: Marcus Kane! Did you break into Clara Sterling's mansion to steal the corporate trust fund?
Reporter B: Is it true your embezzlement scheme was uncovered by a seven-year-old child?
Marcus pulled his handcuffed wrists up to try and cover his face from the flashing camera lenses, but the news crews caught every angle of his tear-stained, pepper-sprayed face.
Marcus: Get those cameras away from me! Turn them off!
Officer Vance: Watch your head, Mr. Kane.
The heavy patrol car door slammed shut with a metallic thud, cutting off his angry shouting as the cruiser sped away down the long estate drive, its sirens wailing into the night.
Inside the warm, sterile back of the ambulance, the paramedic placed an oxygen mask over my face while checking my blood pressure monitor.
Paramedic: Vital signs are stabilizing, ma'am. The wound missed your internal organs by half an inch. You're going to be just fine.
Clara: Thank God...
I pulled the mask down slightly and looked over at Lily, who was sitting on the fold-down seat beside my stretcher, holding my hand in both of her small palms.
Clara: You saved my life tonight, Lily. You were stronger than any adult I know.
Lily: I promised Dad I would always protect you, Mommy. He said we were a team.
Clara: Your dad is looking down on us right now, sweetie. And he is so proud of his little hero.
Tears of pure relief and love filled my eyes as the ambulance sped through the city streets toward the hospital, leaving the dark nightmare of Marcus Kane far behind us.