There was nothing she could do. Piper’s eyes closed as Kacie kept hitting her little cheek, trying to wake her up.

“Does she have a pulse?” the operator asked me. I relayed the question to Kacie.

“Yes,” Kacie responded.

“Ok, keep her still, do not move her. The ambulance is on the way. I’ll stay on the phone with you until they get there,” the operator said.

I’d never shook that bad in my life; I could barely hold on to the phone. “Here, hold this, listen to whatever she says,” I said to Shae as I gave her my cell phone.

I went over and bent down next to Piper across from Kacie. I knew Kacie was almost finished with nursing school so the panic on her face was making me panic too.

She quickly looked around. “Can someone run and get a towel? Fast!”

The small crowd that had gathered looked from person to person while I reached back and pulled my t-shirt off. “Use this.”

She balled it up and put it on Piper’s head wound which looked really bad. My heart broke at the pool of blood under her little head.

“Hold that firm against her head,” she ordered me.

Once I put my hand on the shirt, she opened each of Piper’s eyes, one at a time and cringed.

“What?” I asked.

“Her pupils, they’re different sizes.”

I shook my head. “What does that mean?”

“It’s a sign of a brain injury.”

My mind raced in a thousand different directions at the sound of that. Brain injury, what did that mean? It sounded horrendous. Kacie’s face was contorted into such despair as she looked down at her daughter, constantly checking for a pulse. It nearly killed me.

The paramedics rushed around the side of the house and down to the lake with a stretcher. After examining Piper quickly, they rolled her off the ground just enough to slip the wooden backboard underneath. After they strapped her securely onto the stretcher, they whisked her and Kacie off.

“Wait!” Sophia called out in a panic.

“Here, I’ll take her. Go.” I reached out and took Lucy out of Sophia’s arms and she turned and sprinted up the hill.

One police officer was talking to Fred and other witnesses while another officer was putting handcuffs on the guy I assumed was driving the WaveRunner. I glared at him while I momentarily debated whether or not it would be worth the arrest to go over and rip his arms from his body. Just as I’d decided it would be worth any time I would get, Lucy laid her head on my shoulder and sniffled.

“Hey, you okay?” I asked, desperately trying to crane my neck so I could see her face.

She didn’t reply, she just cried softly. I hugged her as tight as I could without hurting her. In that moment, I would do anything, and I mean anything in my power to take away her pain. I would do anything to take away Kacie’s pain, and I would sell my soul to the devil himself to trade places with Piper.

Holy shit, did this all just really happen? I felt like I was watching a bad movie.

“You okay?” Shae came up and rubbed my shoulder, her eyes were red-rimmed and she was sniffing too.

“Yes. No. I don’t know. Right now all I’m worried about are these girls, all three of them.” I smiled at her and walked away from the crowd, the police and the bloodstained grass. I sat on a stump and rocked Lucy back and forth. She was shaking like a leaf in my arms.

“Honey, it’s okay. Piper’s gonna be just fine. Okay?” I prayed I wasn’t lying to her, but I didn’t know what else to say.

“Her head was bleeding a lot,” she said softly.

I held her tiny head in my hands, tight against my chest and rocked back and forth. “I know it was, baby, I know.”

I wasn’t a dad—I wasn’t anywhere near close to being a dad—but in that moment, my heart hurt so bad I wanted to crawl out of my skin. And if I felt this way, I couldn’t imagine how Kacie was feeling.

“Hey, I’m gonna head to the hospital, you wanna go?” Fred asked as he walked up to us.

I stood up, still not setting Lucy down. “Yeah.”

Lucy’s head popped up and she looked at me with fear in her eyes. “Can I stay with you?”

“Of course,” I said as I tucked her hair behind her ears. “How about we all ride together, after we both put some clothes on?”

She mumbled in agreement and laid her head back on my shoulder.

“You should come, too.” I turned to Shae who nodded through tears.

When we got to the hospital, Fred went up to the desk and inquired about Piper’s condition.

“Are you all family?” I heard her ask.

Fred looked back at each of us. “Uh. Yes.”

“I’ll call a nurse to take you to where you can wait for them.” She smiled politely.

Before Fred walked back to us, a big white door swung open and a nurse called out, “Piper Jensen.” We all got up and somberly followed her around a couple corners and into a waiting room where Sophia was sitting. As soon as she saw us, she jumped up, ran straight toward me and took Lucy out of my arms. Her lips quivered, as she tried not to breakdown in front of her.

“How is she?” Fred asked.

“I don’t know anything yet, I’ve been sitting here. Kacie went back with them. They tried to tell her it was best that she stay out here but she dug her heels in and refused to budge.”

That’s my girl.

“I’m gonna run and grab something to drink, anyone want anything?” Shae asked.

We all shook our heads as she smiled and left the room. Within five minutes of us sitting and getting comfortable, Lucy was sound asleep on Sophia’s lap.

“Poor kid.” Fred looked down at her sympathetically. “I don’t know how she can sleep with all this going on.”

“I think she’s so wiped out from all the trauma, she needs this rest.”

“So…” I hesitated, but needed to know. “What happened?”

“It all happened so fast, Brody. Earlier Kacie yelled at the guy for coming in too close—that was right after you got here. I went down there to tell her you were here, she came back in and within just a few minutes, he’d circled around again and tried to cut the turn and missed. Slid right into her. At first I thought it hit both of them…” Her voice cracked, tears streaming down her face. “But then Lucy stood up and started crying. I ran into the water and Piper was floating; the water around her was dark red. I screamed and that girl on the deck, your friend, must have told you guys because within seconds, Kacie was flying down the hill.”

“That’s my sister, Shae,” I said, not wanting Sophia to think I was shallow enough to bring another woman there.

“Oh, okay.” She sniffed. “Anyway, Kacie came running, Fred came running and then everything started moving so fast.”

The doors leading to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit swung open and Kacie walked through them, her face as white as I’d ever seen it. Her t-shirt was splattered with the blood of her daughter and she was barefoot. I didn’t even realize she’d left with no shoes on, I wish I’d thought to grab some for her.

She walked a straight path right into my arms, crashing hard against my chest as her knees buckled.

“Kacie, talk to me, what’s going on?” I rushed out as Fred stood and came next to me to help balance her.