Chapter 2: The Aftermath
Grant did not finish his sentence, but the silence in the room was deafening. He rushed past his fiancé, completely ignoring her outstretched arms, and dropped to his knees beside his mother. Eleanor was pale, a thin trickle of blood weeping from the back of her head where it had struck the unyielding porcelain tile.
Lydia continued to sob, a theatrical display of distress, but Grant's eyes were fixed entirely on the woman who had raised him. He pulled out his phone with trembling hands and dialed 911. The sirens that eventually wailed in the distance sounded like the death knell of their impending marriage. When the paramedics arrived, they loaded Eleanor onto a stretcher. Lydia tried to climb into the back of the ambulance, playing the part of the distraught future daughter-in-law, but Grant put a firm hand on her chest, stopping her. His eyes were devoid of the love they had held just an hour prior.
