Chapter 1: Just Ten More Minutes

The third time I wrote Mia Walker’s date of birth wrong, the nurse finally pulled the form out from under my hand.

“Mrs. Walker, stop for a moment. It’s okay, really. I can help you finish the rest later.”

I stared down at the form for a couple of seconds.

In the date-of-birth field, I had written today’s date.

“That’s not right.”

I reached for the form.

“Her birthday is April seventeenth. I know that. I just…”

“I know.”

The nurse didn’t let me finish. She rested a hand lightly on my arm.

“The doctors are treating her right now. Have you reached your husband?”

Only then did I remember that my phone was still clenched in my other hand.

Ethan’s name was still on the screen.

Fourteen unanswered calls.

Maybe fifteen.

One of them had gone to voicemail. I’d shouted into it for what felt like forever, only realizing the call had never connected when the automated voice told me my recording time was over.

“Not yet.”

I called again.

The automatic doors at the emergency entrance opened, sending a gust of cold air down the corridor.

I jerked my head up so fast that my knee knocked the chair backward.

It wasn’t Ethan.

It was another student’s parents.

I sat back down and pressed the call button again, harder than I needed to.

Mia had gone on a school trip to the natural history museum that evening.

On the way back, the school bus had been hit at an intersection by an out-of-control pickup truck.

She had still been conscious when I arrived at the hospital.

The medical staff had already cut open the left sleeve of her shirt. Tiny cuts from shattered glass covered her face, and thick gauze was pressed against her abdomen.

When she saw me, the first thing she asked was,

“Mommy, where’s my backpack?”

I actually turned around to look for it.

I had taken two steps before remembering that her backpack hadn’t come with the ambulance.

“It’s with your teacher.”

I hurried after the gurney. “We’ll go get it when you’re better, okay?”

Mia nodded once.

She looked so sleepy. Her eyelids drooped, then slowly struggled open again.

“Where’s Daddy?”

“I’m calling him.”

I remembered how certain I had sounded.

Because no matter how many of Mia’s smaller moments Ethan had missed over the years, there was one thing I had never truly doubted.

If something serious ever happened to our daughter, he would come.

The call finally connected.

“Hello?”

It was loud on Ethan’s end.

Music, applause, and a man speaking into a microphone blurred together in the background.

“Ava? Why did you call me so many times? My phone was in my coat. It’s loud in here. I only just saw them.”

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out at first.

“Ethan, where are you?”

“At the school. What happened? Tell me first. Mia went to the museum, didn’t she?”

“Which school?”

There was a brief pause.

“St. Catherine.”

My hand around the phone suddenly went cold.

That was Sophie’s school.

Three years ago, Ethan’s best friend, Lucas, had died.

Before he passed away, Ethan had promised to look after Lucas’s wife, Rachel, and their daughter, Sophie.

Over the years, Sophie’s name had appeared on our family calendar far too many times.

“You’re with Sophie?”

“Tonight is the Father-Daughter Dance. She’s wanted to go for ages, and Rachel couldn’t exactly take her to a father-daughter event like this. I thought I’d stay until it was over, then…”

“Ethan, Mia was in an accident.”

The other end went silent.

The music was still playing.

Two seconds passed before he spoke again, as if he hadn’t understood me.

“What?”

“The school bus crashed. She’s at the hospital. She’s bleeding internally, and the doctor says she needs surgery right now.”

I was talking so fast I could barely breathe.

“You need to come. Now.”

“Wait. What do you mean, internal bleeding? How bad is it? Is she conscious? Ava, don’t panic. Just tell me which hospital.”

I gave him the address.

I immediately heard hurried footsteps and the sound of a zipper being yanked open.

My shoulders actually loosened a little.

“I’m getting my coat. Stay with Mia. I’m coming right…”

The operating area doors opened.

A doctor walked toward me, his mask pulled down beneath his chin. He spoke quickly and quietly.

I only caught the words “blood pressure,” “still dropping,” and “can’t wait.”

“Wait.”

I didn’t know whether I was talking to Ethan or the doctor.

The doctor had already turned the clipboard in his hand toward me.

“She needs to go in immediately. She’s still slightly conscious before anesthesia, so you can see her, but we cannot delay any longer.”

“Her father is on his way.”

I said it too quickly, almost as if I were afraid he wouldn’t believe me.

The doctor looked at me.

“The surgery cannot wait for her father.”

The phone was still pressed to my ear.

My voice had started shaking. “Ethan, did you hear that?”

“I heard. Ava, give the phone to the doctor.”

The doctor didn’t take it. He only leaned closer to the receiver.

“Mr. Walker, I’m Mia’s attending physician. Her condition is unstable, and we need to operate immediately. If you want to speak to her, now would be the time. We can’t guarantee when she’ll wake up after anesthesia.”

“What do you mean you can’t guarantee it? Doctor, wait. You just said she…”

The doctor had already turned back toward the doors.

A nurse touched my arm. “Mom, you can come with us.”

I followed her.

Mia lay on the gurney, an oxygen mask pressed over her nose. Her hair was messy and stuck to the side of her face.

When she saw me, her fingers moved slightly.

“Mommy.”

“I’m here. I’m right here.”

Her eyes shifted toward my phone.

“Where’s Daddy?”

I held the phone to her ear.

“Mia.”

Ethan’s voice softened the moment he said her name.

Mia opened her eyes a little.

“Daddy?”

“Baby, it’s Daddy. Listen to the doctors, okay? Daddy’s coming right now.”

“Are you coming?”

There was no immediate answer.

Then the host’s voice came through clearly in the background.

“Next, Sophie Bennett and her father figure, Ethan Walker…”

I looked up.

Someone on the other end said,

“Ethan, go. I’ll stay with Sophie.”

It was Rachel.

Then Sophie called quietly,

“Uncle Ethan?”

A pause.

“You promised me.”

The nurse started pushing the gurney.

“We have to go.”

I took the phone back.

“Ethan, come now.”

“I know. I know.”

Everything on his end sounded chaotic.

“Sophie is already on the floor. I’ll just dance the first one with her. Ten minutes, Ava. Just ten minutes. She’s been preparing for this dance for so long.”

I said nothing.

He started speaking faster.

“Mia has you. Sophie really has no one else tonight. I promised Lucas. I can’t leave her standing there alone. I’ll come as soon as the dance is over.”

Mia had her eyes closed, but her lips moved slightly.

I bent down.

“What is it?”

“Is Daddy coming?”

My throat felt completely blocked.

In the end, all I managed was a faint, “Mm.”

I didn’t even know if that counted as an answer.

Mia didn’t ask again.

She only gave a soft little,

“Oh.”

The gurney was pushed away.

Even after the doors closed, I was still holding the phone.

Then applause suddenly erupted on the other end.

I hung up.

Everything after that became blurry.

Someone asked me to sign a form. I signed it, then forgot I had already done it.

When the nurse handed me a second sheet, I was still clutching the first one.

I went to get water. I placed the paper cup too far to one side and pressed the button three times, spilling water everywhere.

Someone beside me quietly pushed the cup into the right position.

I thanked them.

I carried the cup back and never drank from it.

At 8:47 p.m., the doctor came out and told me Mia’s blood pressure had dropped again.

I called Ethan immediately.

He answered quickly.

“We’re done here. I’m leaving now.”

“She’s getting worse.”

I could hear my own voice shaking.

“The doctor just went back in. Ethan, hurry.”

“I’m already heading for the door.”

“Mr. Walker, wait! You haven’t taken the group photo yet!”

Rachel immediately cut in, “Forget the photo. Let him go.”

I could hear Ethan’s footsteps continuing.

Then Sophie called after him.

Her voice already sounded close to tears.

The footsteps stopped.

“Ethan?”

“Just one photo.”

His voice was farther from the phone now, as though he had turned around.

“I’ll take one, then I’m leaving.”

I stared at the operating room doors.

“You just said you were leaving now.”

“I know. Really, it’ll only take a few seconds. The photographer is already…”

I hung up.

8:56 p.m.

The operating room doors opened again.

The doctor came out and removed his mask.

The first time he told me, I didn’t understand.

So he said it again.

Someone reached out to support me.

I pushed the hand away because I suddenly noticed Mia’s pink coat draped over the back of a chair.

She was always cold.

I walked over and picked it up.

One of the bunny ears on the hood was missing.

That morning, before leaving the house, she had stood by the door and reminded me,

“Mommy, you have to sew it back on when I get home, okay?”

I crouched down and started looking for it.

It wasn’t under the chair.

It wasn’t beside the trash can either.

I searched for a long time.

When the digital clock on the corridor wall changed to 9:05 p.m., hurried footsteps finally came from the far end.

“Ava!”

I didn’t look up.

Ethan ran toward me, his tie crooked, breathing too hard to get a full sentence out.

“Where’s Mia? How did the surgery go? Where’s the doctor?”

A white flower from the Father-Daughter Dance was pinned to the front of his suit.

The flower sat crooked beneath his lapel, probably knocked out of place while he ran.

Two pieces of silver glitter still clung to his shoulder.

I stared at them for a while.

“Did Sophie finish her dance?”

Ethan froze.

“Ava, I…”

“She finished, right?”

His lips moved.

I nodded and pulled Mia’s coat tighter against my chest.

“Good.”

“Mia died nine minutes ago.”