3rd person Pov
"You took everything from me once before, Father," Amiriah spat, her voice a low snarl of fury. "I will never—never—let you near my child again." Her family watched, frozen in a tableau of shock, as a tidal wave of rage washed over her face. Amiriah's fists clenched, her body coiling to strike, but before she could, a shrill, incessant beeping echoed from the room behind her. Two doctors who had been standing by the doorway bolted, their white coats a blur.
That sound was a splash of cold water, shattering the red haze of her anger. Panic seized Amiriah's heart, a frantic, hammering drumbeat in her chest. She followed them, her legs pumping, a new kind of terror replacing the old. Behind her, the entire Spellman family rushed in a frantic procession: her twin sister Lenna, her parents Amara and Xavier, older sisters Zuri and Zari, older brothers Kario and Hayden, and Hayden's wife, Yara. They all ran, a panicked herd, following the doctors and the frantic mother.
In the room, a small body on the bed, KeLani, was shaking violently. The machines hooked up to her were screaming with a desperate, rapid beeping. One of the doctors flew to her side, shouting to the others, "I need more help over here! The patient is going into shock and her breathing levels are extremely low!" The other doctors scrambled over, a whirlwind of motion and clinical precision, trying to stabilize the little girl.
Amiriah's world narrowed to the sight of her daughter's trembling body. "What's happening?!" she screamed, her voice a raw, jagged sound. "What are you doing? What is happening to her?!" She was screaming at the doctors, at the machines, at the universe itself. Tears streamed down her face, a hot, angry river. "KeLani, no, baby, don't you dare leave me!" she sobbed, her words a frantic prayer. "Fight! You hear me? You have to fight! Please, fight for Mommy!"
The Spellman family watched in a horrified silence. Amara's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes welling with tears as she saw her daughter's pain and her granddaughter's struggle. Xavier's shoulders slumped, a heavy weight of guilt settling on him, knowing his foolish confrontation had led to this. Zuri and Zari clung to each other, their faces pale with heartbreak. Hayden and Kario stood stunned, their big frames suddenly small and helpless. Yara clutched her own stomach, a wave of profound sadness washing over her as she thought that no mother should ever have to go through this. Lenna, standing just a few inches away from her twin, felt Amiriah's every emotion like a physical blow. Her own chest ached, and scalding tears cut tracks down her face. She knew this pain, this panic, was a part of her now.
A doctor's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and urgent. "I need a suction STAT! Her blood is filling her lungs!" On the bed, KeLani's tiny body was still convulsing, but now, a thin trickle of blood began to seep from the corner of her mouth. Her shaking stopped, her body going eerily still as it descended deeper into shock. Amiriah's screams turned into high-pitched sobs, her knees threatening to buckle. She saw the blood, and a fresh wave of agony hit her.
"She's going into cardiac arrest! We need to start performing CPR now!" a doctor yelled, his voice strained. The frantic energy in the room intensified. Amiriah and her family watched, transfixed in a nightmare, as a doctor began chest compressions on the small, still form. The machines continued their desolate, rhythmic beeping, a flatline sound that declared there was no pulse. Another doctor checked for a pulse again and again, each time shaking his head.
Amiriah's sobbing became a guttural wail. Xavier's guilt was a crushing weight. Amara's tears flowed freely, her hands covering her face. Zuri and Zari were openly weeping, their sister's pain reflected in their own. Kario began to punch the wall, the sound of his fists against the drywall a hollow echo of his inner turmoil. Hayden could only watch, a statue of shock. Lenna felt a cold certainty settle in her heart. She knew what was coming next, and the thought was a fist to her chest. She wanted to deny it, to pretend, but the next words from the doctor were like a bucket of icy water.
"Time of death: 10:30 PM."
A guttural, soul-shattering scream tore from Amiriah's throat. "NOOOOO!" She ran and lunged onto the bed, scooping up KeLani's small, lifeless body. She held her, rocking her gently, her tears raining down on the cold skin. "This is just a dream," she whispered, her voice a fragile, broken thing. "You're just sleeping, my sweet girl. You're so tired." She rocked KeLani back and forth, patting her back as if trying to soothe a fretful baby. "Wake up, my little light, it's just a bad dream. Mommy's here. Mommy's got you."
The Spellman family stood in stunned silence, a circle of shared heartbreak, watching a mother cradle her dead child. Amara's sobs were silent now, her face a mask of grief. Xavier looked away, unable to bear the sight. Lenna saw a part of herself shatter in her sister's hands. Zuri and Zari hugged each other, their bodies wracked with silent tears. Kario and Hayden, their anger and shock replaced by a profound sorrow, could only watch, helpless. Yara held her own baby closer, a single tear rolling down her cheek. They all saw the way Amiriah handled her child's body, so tenderly, so lovingly, as if she were just sleeping.
Amiriah slowly got off the bed, holding KeLani's limp body in her arms. She walked past her family, her gaze unfocused. Some of them tried to call her name, their voices catching in their throats. "Amiriah, where are you going?"
She paused and looked at them, a serene, unblinking smile on her face. "I'm taking my daughter to bed. She's just sleepy." She looked down at KeLani and smoothed her hair. "She always sleeps better in her own bed with her stuff bunny." She continued to talk to her daughter, a one-sided conversation about all the things KeLani loved to do—play with her trains, eat popsicles, and read books.
Amiriah turned back to the family, a strange, knowing look in her eyes. "KeLani's just like me when I was little. She doesn't like to be woken up. She'll wake up on her own." The family could only stare, their hearts breaking as they saw the truth: the child in her arms looked like she was sleeping, but they all knew she was gone. They followed her, a solemn, grieving procession, up the stairs. They watched as Amiriah tucked the child into bed, covering her with a blanket and placing a stuffed bunny next to her head. Amiriah leaned down, kissed KeLani's cold forehead, and smiled. "Mommy will be right back, my little light. I'm going to go bake your favorite cookies." She turned and walked out of the room, heading toward the kitchen, leaving her dead child in the bed.
The family was terrified, their grief turning into profound worry. They watched from the doorway as Amiriah, humming a little tune, began to mix ingredients for cookies. Her movements were calm, precise, as if nothing had happened. They knew what this was. This wasn't a dream or a moment of denial. This was a mental break. Amiriah was in shock, a complete severance from reality. She had developed Cotard's syndrome, the delusional belief that she, or parts of her, were dead or non-existent, and she was transferring that belief onto her child, creating a false reality where KeLani was just sleeping, not gone forever.
Lenna finally took charge, her voice raw with grief and anger. "Everyone, to Dad's office. Now."
Once inside, the door was shut, a barrier between them and the woman baking cookies downstairs. Amara collapsed into a chair, her silent sobs now wrenching. Yara held her baby, burying her face in its soft warmth, and whispered, "No mother should ever have to endure this." Hayden leaned against the wall, his head in his hands, completely lost. Kario, his face streaked with tears, began to punch the filing cabinet, a frantic release of his uncontainable rage.
Lenna's voice, though quiet, was heavy with conviction. "When she snaps out of this, when she finally realizes KeLani is gone for good… it's going to be over. She's not going to have a reason to live. She's already lost it. Everything." A single curse, ragged and torn, escaped her lips. "This is bad. This is so, so bad." Tears streamed down her face as she turned on her father, her voice rising to a frantic shriek. "If you had listened to me! None of this would've happened! And now we're going to lose her forever, too!"
The family stood there, a broken circle of grief, watching a mother bake cookies for a child who was no longer with them, all of them knowing that the worst had yet to come. They were all afraid, their hearts aching for the moment when Amiriah's mind would finally catch up with her reality and shatter completely.