Chapter 4

I'd seen her before—she worked with my mom!

The production line collapsed…

My mom's coworker said… my mom was still inside…

The thing I feared most had actually happened.

A high ringing filled my ears, and the whole world went silent.

I lost it. I bolted straight for the entrance.

Two security guards swung in front of me and grabbed hold.

Their mouths opened and shut in big, exaggerated shapes.

"What are… you… doing…"

"Stop… you can't… go in…"

But no sound reached me.

I fought with everything I had, shoved them off hard.

Dust rolled out to meet me, and I plunged inside.

Everything went black at once, only a blur in front of my eyes.

Powdered grit choked my nose, and I could barely breathe.

I didn't care.

I forced my throat wide open and screamed with everything in me.

"Mom— Mom—"

"Where are you—"

"Can you hear me— it's me— Layla—"

"Mom—"

My throat burned, and my voice came back to my own ears.

I heard it slowly grow louder.

I heard it shaking, thick with crying.

The sound dragged my despair up out of me.

All this wreckage, and my mom was inside it, she…

I couldn't let myself think it. My voice shook harder, more terrified, and I screamed louder still.

There was movement behind me—several guards charged in, flashlights blazing.

"Get out! Get the hell out!"

"You think you can just walk into the factory floor?!"

"Get out!"

Just as the guards were forcing me toward the exit, a familiar voice reached me.

"Lay… is that Lay?"

"How are you… here?"

Weak, faint.

But in this silent ruin, it stood out clear as day.

I knew it.

It was my mom's voice.

I snatched a flashlight out of a guard's hand and aimed it toward the sound.

Out of the dark, my mom took shape.

She was covered in dust, her hair a tangled mess.

One arm hung limp, blood dripping from her fingertips.

I broke free of the guards and rushed to her.

My mom looked at me, gave a small shake of her head, the corner of her mouth straining upward.

I knew she was trying to tell me she was fine, that I shouldn't worry.

But the shake of her head was so small it was almost invisible.

And in the end, the corner of her mouth never made it into a smile.

My heart clenched and lurched up into my throat.

I held up my mom's weak body…

I led her out of that choking cloud of dust…

I took her to the hospital…

Registering, the tests, getting her settled…

The whole way there, I kept praying inside.

Praying her injured hand wasn't serious.

Praying she had no internal injuries, that she'd be okay, please.

Over the pounding of my heart, the doctor came to the bedside holding the scans.

His eyes moved to my mom on the bed, then to me beside it.

"…Aside from the fractured arm and the scraped forearm, there are no other external injuries…"

"She needs to rest, absolutely no strain!"

"She's getting on in years. A sudden shock like this is hard on the heart and the mind."

The knot in my chest loosened all at once, and I let out a long breath.

She was okay. My mom was okay.

She'd come around a little by then.

Now she was looking at me, guilt all over her face.

"I… I made you worry…"

What nonsense was that.

"As long as you're okay."

"What happened? Why were you in there?"

"Weren't we set—you take the afternoon off, I come pick you up, and we go celebrate your birthday?"

My mom's eyes went hazy for a second, then she spoke.

"I asked for half a day off, and the supervisor wasn't happy. Said I was holding up the work…"

"He told me that before I left, I had to go check the line one more time."

"I did what he said, went and looked, checked it over…"

"I'd just stepped in, and suddenly… suddenly…"

My mom stopped, and a shudder ran through her.

"I don't know what happened. The machine started up on its own."

"Before I could even understand what was going on, there was this hum, and it just…"

"The whole thing shook once, and then it came down with a crash!"