His Child, My Blood Revenge

While my daughter was still trapped inside a burning building, her father climbed into an ambulance holding someone else's child. A firefighter carried her out through the smoke. Her face was covered in soot, and she held her right arm stiffly against her chest, too afraid to move it. The moment she saw me, the first thing she asked was, "Mommy, did Daddy go back in to find me?" I opened my mouth. Nothing came out. Just a few minutes earlier, I'd grabbed Lance Stanley by the sleeve and told him Tess Stanley still hadn't come out. He'd told me the firefighters were already inside. "Ollie can't breathe. I need to go with him to the hospital. Stay here, and call me the second you hear anything." Then he peeled my hand off his arm. ***** The fire had broken out during a winter family event hosted by my father's foundation. I'd been in the lobby organizing donated supplies while Lance Stanley waited backstage with Tess Stanley for her performance. He'd promised me he wouldn't take his eyes off her. But when the fire alarm went off, the first person I saw running out of the building was Lance. And in his arms was Blair Ross's son. Ollie Ross. Blair stumbled along beside him, sobbing so hard she could barely stay on her feet. I ran up to Lance and asked where Tess was. He told me Blair had seen one of the teachers take her outside. Then the teacher came running over, shaking her head. That was when Lance realized no one actually knew where Tess was. I followed Tess's stretcher into the hospital with my hands shaking so badly I could barely fill out the paperwork. When the nurse asked who I was to the patient, I couldn't even get out two words without stumbling: "Her mom." Tess needed treatment for her injuries, and the doctor asked the family to wait outside. The second I started to move, Tess grabbed the hem of my shirt. "Mommy, can you wait for me?" I nodded. She still wouldn't let go. "Don't leave either." My tears fell before I could stop them. Tess had always been terrified of needles. Every time she got a shot, she had to sit in her daddy's lap while he held her. But only a few hours had passed, and she was already too afraid to ask anyone to hold her. All she asked was for me not to leave. Lance didn't show up until that evening. There was still soot on his shirt, and he carried a cup of coffee that had gone completely cold. The moment he saw Tess lying in the hospital bed, he stopped. "Daddy." Her eyes lit up. She tried to reach for him with her injured hand. Lance immediately crouched beside the bed and gently supported her forearm. "Don't move it, sweetheart. Daddy sees it." That was all it took. Tess finally burst into tears. Between sobs, she asked him why he hadn't come back for her. Lance lowered his head. "Daddy messed up. I'm sorry." I stood beside them, and for the first time all day, some of the tension left my shoulders. He did love her. Of course he did. I even started making excuses for him in my head. Everything had been chaos. He'd panicked. He hadn't meant to leave her behind. Then Blair called. I could hear Ollie crying on the other end of the phone. "Uncle Lance, don't you want me anymore?" Lance was still holding Tess's hand. His expression tightened. "Tess, Ollie just lost his dad. He's been really scared ever since. I need to go check on him." Tess froze. The hurt she'd finally allowed herself to show slowly disappeared from her face. "No! Daddy, I need you too!" "Tess," Lance's expression darkened. "Stop crying over everything. You need to be stronger than this." She went still again. Then she hurriedly wiped her face with her left hand, faster and faster, as if she could erase every tear before he saw it. "Daddy, I'm not crying anymore. Can you stay with me now?" Tess didn't want to make things hard for her father. More than that, she didn't want Lance to think she was a weak little girl. I caught her hand before she could scrub her face raw, then looked at my husband. "Ollie's mother is right there with him. Tess almost died today too." "But she didn't. She's here, isn't she?" "She's hurt." Lance was silent for a moment. Then he stood and pulled me out into the hallway. "Marlene, he just lost his father, and now he's been through a fire. He doesn't want anyone else right now. He only wants me." "Tess only wants you too." "Don't say things like that in front of her. You're going to make her think I don't love her." I stared at him, my eyes burning. On Tess's birthday, she'd stayed up waiting for her father until she fell asleep at the table. That same night, Lance had been throwing Ollie a make-up birthday party. At the school's Family Day, Lance had entered the father and son games with Ollie. Tess had stood off to the side, watching her own father win a medal for another kid. She'd wiped away her tears before anyone could see them. And today, his own daughter had still been missing inside a burning building, but he'd chosen to leave with Ollie first. He'd left Tess behind in that fire. Again and again, Lance walked away from her. How could she not know? How could she not feel that her father cared more about someone else's child? "Blair is your sister," Lance said. "She lost her husband so young. She's already been through enough. You're family. Can't you show her a little compassion?" I'd heard those words my entire life. We're family. When Blair cut up my dress before a party, Mom said she was only acting out because she was afraid I'd steal our parents' love from her. When Blair locked me inside a storage room for an entire day and night, Dad told me not to ruin the family over a stupid prank. But when I accidentally spilled a glass of juice on Blair, Mom scolded me in front of every guest. She said I'd grown up away from home, so of course I had no manners. Now it was Tess's turn to learn the same rules. First, she had to understand that someone else had it worse. Only then was she allowed to decide whether she had the right to cry. Lance left anyway. Before he went, he promised Tess he'd come back as soon as Ollie fell asleep. She nodded seriously. "Then can I stay awake and wait for you?" "Of course." At 1 in the morning, Tess was still staring at the door. I told her she needed to sleep. She shook her head. "If Daddy comes back and sees I'm asleep, he'll just go back to Ollie." I turned away before she could see my face and called Lance. Someone picked up. It wasn't him. Blair lowered her voice and said, "I finally got him to sleep. Marlene, please stop calling." Then she hung up. I stood alone in the hospital hallway, staring at the dark screen of my phone. And suddenly, I remembered Tess was still waiting for me to go back inside. For the first time, I had no idea how I was supposed to make excuses for her father anymore.