“Please,” he murmured, swallowing. “Please don’t let them find us.”
Emily was already moving before she consciously decided to. She rounded the desk and knelt so she wouldn’t loom over him. “Hey,” she said gently. “You’re safe here. What’s your name?”
The boy hesitated, glancing back at the closed doors as if expecting them to burst open at any second. “Eli,” he said. “Eli Walker. This is my sister. Lily.”
“Okay,” Emily said, her voice steady but urgent. “We’re going to help her. I just need to take her for a moment.”
Eli’s arms tightened reflexively, fear flashing across his face. “No,” he said, louder now, his voice cracking. “Please. Don’t take her away.”
Emily lifted her hands slowly. “I won’t,” she assured him. “I promise. I just need to check her breathing. You can stay right here.”
He studied her face with the fierce focus of someone who had learned that promises were often disguised dangers. Whatever he saw must have been enough, because he carefully laid Lily onto the gurney—keeping one hand wrapped around her ankle, as though that small touch was the only thing anchoring her to life.
Moments later, the room filled with movement and controlled urgency. Doctors called out vitals. Nurses attached monitors. Someone cut away soiled clothing. Through it all, Eli stood frozen, knuckles white, eyes locked on his sister’s face.
Dr. Hannah Moore, the attending physician, noticed him immediately. She crouched beside him, keeping her voice calm and even. “You did the right thing bringing her here,” she said. “You’re very brave.”
Eli didn’t answer. Brave was a word adults used when they didn’t understand the impossible choices you’d been forced to make.
Nearly an hour later—after Lily had been stabilized and taken for imaging—Detective Marcus Reed arrived. He was seasoned in child welfare cases, the kind of man whose hair had gone gray early from carrying too many things no one should have to see. He didn’t show a badge or fire off questions. He pulled up a plastic chair and spoke with the patience of someone who respected silence.
Eli shrugged, eyes fixed on the floor.
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