The Most Important Thing
Emilys temperature shot up suddenly. The thermometer read 40.5, and almost instantly, she began convulsing. Her little body arched so violently that Hannah froze for a moment, hardly believing her own eyes before rushing to her daughter, her hands trembling as she fought back panic.
Emily started to choke as foam appeared at her mouth, her breathing ragged, as if someone was suffocating her from the inside.
Hannah tried to open her mouthher fingers slipped and shook, but somehow she managed. Then Emily went completely limp, slipping into unconsciousness. Five, perhaps ten minutes passedno one could have told you for sure. Time moved not by the second, but by the pounding of Hannahs heart, echoing in her ears.
She watched carefully to keep Emilys airway clear, holding her daughters head as the fits wracked her worse than any electric shock.
Hannah was blind to everything but one desperate hope: Emily must breathe again. Emily must come back.
She screamedto the kitchen, the walls, into the empty house and the uncaring night. She screamed into her phone at the emergency services, shouting Emilys name as if she could tether her daughter to life with the force of her voice alone.
She rang Daniel, and between tears and hiccups, all she could manage was,
Emily Emily nearly died
But down the line, Daniel heard only one short, horrifying word: died.
He clutched his chest, the pain stabbing as though a red-hot blade had been thrust between his ribs. His legs buckled, and he slowly, silently slipped from his armchair down to the floor, like a puppet whose strings had suddenly been cutstrength gone, thoughts scattered, heart wrenched into emptiness
People tried to lift him, to steady him by his elbows. Someone brought smelling salts, someone else a glass of water, another patted his back and offered gentle wordsbut every comfort shattered against the wall of his despair, like waves against concrete.
Daniel could not pull himself together. His fingers shook spasmodically, the glass rattled against his teeth, and instead of words, only ragged fragments emerged from his throat, like a broken machine:
Sh-she d-died Em-Emily shes dead
His lips turned pale, breath came in shudders, his hands felt foreign to him.
Mr. Peter Hawkins, his boss, acted without hesitationhe swept Daniel up by the arms and half-carried him into his large Land Rover. The door slammed shut with a bang that echoed around the cars interior.
Where? Where do we go?! he shouted right in Daniels face, trying to force him back to reality.
Daniel sat as if blind, his eyes huge and empty, fixed on nothing. For a few seconds, he didnt even blink, caught between nightmare and the awful present.
The childrens city hospital Daniel finally muttered, each word rasping from his throat, torn by pain and terror.
The hospital was farmuch too far for a man who had just heard the one word that ruins worlds.
Mr. Hawkins floored the accelerator, the Land Rover weaving from lane to lane as the streetlights and traffic lights became nothing but meaningless blotches of colour. Red, greenwho cared?
Once at a crossroads, they veered so sharply that a black, gleaming 4×4 appeared right beside them as if from nowhere.
They missed a collision by mere inches. Hawkins spun the wheel, the car slewed sideways, tyres screaming, sparks flying from the brakes.
The other car shot past, leaving the smell of burnt rubber and a sharp sense that Death himself had just brushed their shoulders.
Daniel noticed none of this.
Tears streamed down his face. He sat hunched over, pressing his fist to his mouth, trying not to scream out loud.
And thenthe flash. As though someone had flicked on a projector of memories.
Emily at three. She had tonsillitis so badly that the thermometer readings made grown adults blanch. The ambulance gave her an injection and recommended suppositories.
Little Emily was standing on her bed in pyjamas with rabbits on, feverish and soaked with tears. Hannah had spent half an hour trying to convince her. Emily sobbed, rubbed her eyes with her fists, then finally gave in and muttered:
Alright, go on just dont light it!
Daniel nearly fell on the floor laughing. Only days ago, theyd visited the church, and shed remembered that candles were for lighting.
Mr. Hawkins steered the car onto the dual carriagewaylong and cold beneath the nights streetlights, sharp as a blade.
And the next memory hit.
A few weeks later, Emily was scaling the giant wardrobe. A cheeky monkeyclever, stubborn. She had nearly reached the ceiling, crowing with triumph.
Then, with a horrible slowness, the wardrobe began tippinga low, heavy thud. The bulk toppled. Hannah screamed, Daniel leapt forward, but too late. The crash split the air.
Emily survived. Bruises, tears, fright, and the biggest chocolate bar they could find to calm her down.
And when she saw the chocolate, Emily switched gearslike someone had clicked a hidden button. She stopped crying, wiped her nose, and asked,
Can I have two?
Chocolate was her emergency happiness switch.
Daniel thought then that if hospitals gave out chocolate, humanity would have conquered death by now.
And then
A quiet home, evening, lamplight glowing softly.
Hannah said,
Well go to church tomorrow, light a candle for your health.
And Emily, more serious than ever, asked,
In my bottom, or what?..
Hannah hid her face in her hands while Emily looked at them both, befuddled by their laughter.
And now, in that car, that funny phrase stabbed him right in the heart.
Because it was these nonsensical moments that held all the meaning.
Her life.
Mr. Hawkins got Daniel to the hospital at last. The car jerked to a stop, as if it were afraid to pause anymore than necessary.
“Emilys alive,” was the first thing Daniel heard. “She was rushed straight to intensive caredoctors havent said a word in hours.”
They let Hannah in. Daniel was left to wait and pray
It was one in the morning, that time when the world seems to freeze, suffused with endless loneliness. Daniel lifted his eyes, searching for the window on the second floor behind which his daughter was fighting for her life.
In that window, like a scene from a thriller, Hannah appeared. She stood unmoving, arms at her sides, staring straight through the glassdirectly at him. No wave, no sigh, no reaching for her phone.
He waved frantically, as if his hand could push back the dread that bound them together. He calledshe didnt answer. She just stood, like the ghost of love itself, scared that even the smallest twitch might make her vanish.
Then Daniels phone rang. Suddenly. Sharply.
They said simply,
Come in.
Then hung up.
Terror pressed on him so tightly it was hard to breatheeverything grew viscous, like treacle. He tried to stand; his legs wouldnt respond. His body wanted to glue him to the spot, keep him from hearing the worst.
He knew he had to go in, but fear petrified him.
Just then, the door swung open and a nurse came out. She was young, tired, her shoes well-worn and soft. She walked right to him.
Daniel looked at her and felt the bottom fall out of his world.
This was it. The end. She was going to say it.
The nurse leaned down, and spoke quietly but with crystalline certaintylike a sentence, but shining:
Shes going to be fine. The worst is over
The world reeled.
Daniels lips trembled, foreign, limp, as if they didnt belong to him. He sat there, trying to form words”thank you”, “God”, just please let me breathebut only the corners of his mouth quivered, only his hands shook, and warm, living tears streamed down his cheeks.
—–
After that night, most things stopped mattering to Daniel.
He no longer feared losing his job. He didnt care if he looked foolish, ridiculous, or broken.
The only thing that truly remained was the memory of that nightthe way a world could shatter in a single heartbeat, the way someone youd lift mountains for could slip away in an instant
Everything else lost its weight.
It was as if a thin line of terror had been drawn, dividing the world into Before and After.
All other fears melted away, leaving only the hush that comes with seeing what truly matters.
