“Promise?”

I put my hand near hers — not touching the evidence, just close enough for her to feel me there.

“I promise.”

Alan ordered another nurse posted at the trauma bay entrance. Hospital security arrived four minutes later.

At 12:19 a.m., the sheriff’s deputy logged Emily’s torn fabric into evidence. At 12:23 a.m., he photographed the phone screen with Daniel’s missed call and text.

At 12:31 a.m., Alan signed off on the preliminary trauma documentation.