The bright foyer was filled with tense, suffocating silence.
Mark pulled out his smartphone and dialed emergency services immediately.
Mark: Yes, I need an ambulance at twelve-forty Elm Drive!
Mark: My mother fell down the stairs and is not waking up!
Sarah wiped her eyes and leaned closer to Mark's shoulder.
Sarah: I told her to be careful on those shoes, Mark.
Sarah: She was carrying too many books and lost her footing.
Mark stared down at his mother's hands on the floor.
He noticed there were no books lying anywhere near her body.
Mark: Where are the books she was holding, Sarah?
Sarah paused for a split second as her breath caught in her throat.
Sarah: They... they must have slid under the hall table!
Mark: She was upstairs to put the legal folder in the safe.
Sarah: Yes, she must have dropped everything when she tripped.
Mark looked back up the grand staircase toward the balcony.
He saw a single white piece of paper caught near the top railing.
Mark: That looks like a page from the trust agreement.
Sarah: Forget about the paper, Mark, just focus on your mother!
Sarah took Mark's arm to turn his face back toward the floor.
Sarah: We need to stay calm until the paramedics arrive.
Mark felt a strange knot tight in his stomach.
He looked at Sarah's polished blouse and saw a wrinkled paper edge poking out.
Mark: What is that in your pocket, Sarah?
Sarah: Nothing, just some old receipts I had earlier.
Sarah quickly adjusted her shirt to hide the hidden folder pages.
Mark: Sarah, you look terrified, but not just for Mom.
Sarah: How can you say that while I am crying for her?!
Sarah: I love Evelyn just as much as you do!
Mark rubbed his forehead as tears filled his own tired eyes.
He had trusted Sarah for seven years of marriage.
He never imagined she could hide anything serious from him.
Mark: If she woke up right now, what would she say happened?
Sarah: She would tell you she slipped, just like I said!
A soft step sounded from the dark hallway upstairs.
A small shadow moved under the large framed American flag.