"Ah!"
Everyone flinched, not daring to look. If the little girl hit the ground, she'd be hurt even worse.
A few people tried to dive forward and catch her, but it was already too late.
Only Claire reacted fast enough. She managed to catch the child with one hand, just in time.
"Yes!" someone cheered.
Right away, the whole crowd burst into applause.
Valeria rushed over and threw her arms around Claire, not even noticing the woman on the ground. She stepped right on the woman's hand.
The woman screamed, but Valeria didn't hear a thing. She was too busy praising Claire. "Claire, that was incredible! You have no idea. The kid almost landed face- first on the pavement!"
Everyone nodded, still wide-eyed from the shock.
The girl's face was already scratched up from bits of glass. The cuts weren't deep, but if she'd landed on her face, it would have been so much worse.
"You're amazing, young lady!" someone called out.
"That woman has to be a kidnapper. What kind of mom throws her kid on the ground?"
"Don't let her get away! Surround her!" People who weren't hurt quickly formed a circle, blocking the woman in.
Not that she could go anywhere. Claire had kicked her so hard she was still struggling to get up.
"Quick, check the kid!"
Claire was already on it. She'd sprayed the girl's wounds to stop the bleeding, and things looked a lot better now. The most important thing was that she hadn't landed on the ground, so she was still okay, all things considered.
The little girl was all cried out, her voice nothing but a raspy whisper.
She must have been drugged. If it weren't for her injuries, she probably wouldn't even have woken up.
"We need to get her to the hospital. Is the ambulance here yet?" Claire asked, holding the girl and looking around anxiously.
"It's here, take her! We'll handle the kidnapper!” someone answered, pointing her in the right direction.
The ambulance had just arrived, and the crashed cars were being cleared the big bus were still blocking the road ahead.
away Only the truck and cleared
Claire didn't waste a second. She took off running toward the ambulance with the girl in her arms.
Most of the medics were too busy
notice her. Their attention was
l.ne
locked on the truck driver sto
and the
"On the
bus passengers, who were worst.
Claire explained the situation, but there was no one to help. They were short-staffed and stretched thin.
She had no choice. Hugging the girl tight, she hurried down a side street to try and flag down a taxi.
Just then, a young guy on an electric scooter pulled up.
"Hey, I can take you and the kid to the hospital. It might not look like much, but this little scooter is fast in traffic!"
Claire brightened right up. "Thank you so much! That would be great.”
She waved to Valeria, letting her know she was heading to the hospital, then climbed onto the scooter.
Her stuff was still with Valeria, but she trusted her friend not to lose anything.
Sure enough, Valeria quickly found a shared bike and pedaled toward the hospital. She even called home to have someone pick up her car since
the road was totally blocked and nobody was getting out anytime soon.
Meanwhile, Edison was helping out with the rescue. When he finally got back, he realized Claire was gone.
He was covered in dirt, hands full, and hadn't even had a chance to call her.
The police and rescue teams had arrived, but he couldn't leave yet. His car was stuck in the jam, too.
He thought maybe Claire had gone back to the car to do her homework, but when he checked, she wasn't there.
That's when Edison started to worry.
He grabbed his phone and called her right away. "Claire, where are you? Why aren't you here?"
"I'm at the hospital, Edison," Claire answered, just as she finished handing the little girl over to a doctor.