Beep! Beep! Beep! The heart monitor's alarm was sounding. Zion's heart rate was dropping fast. The doctors and nurses ran into the pediatric ICU and quickly ushered her away. Tamia didn't want to be more than a few feet from her daughter. She had just gotten her back. She could hear them calling codes and charging the defibrillator. Tamia dropped to her knees and began to pray.
Dear Heavenly Father, I am begging you to spare my child. Please, spare her life; she has been through so much already. I want her to live long enough to see the people who hurt her receive justice. I want her to be healthy and strong and to live a full life. I need my child to live. Lord, please help me. Help my baby, Zion. Please.......
The machine started beeping back a normal rhythm. She pushed out a sigh of relief. Her prayer had been answered. The doctor stepped out of Zion's room and told Tamia to walk with him. The nurses remained in the room. They were changing Zion's bandages and IV fluids. It was impossible not to notice the sorrow in the nurses' eyes as they watched this innocent four year old fight for her life.
"Miss Simmons, I need to let you know that Zion has been lucky thus far. We were able to restore her back to a normal sinus rhythm. However, during this episode, her brain went four minutes without much oxygen. Add that to the trauma she has already faced, and we may be looking at brain damage. We will monitor her closely. "
"Thanks, Dr. Peterson. I appreciate all the staff is doing."
"Miss Simmons, I also needed to tell you that her motor skills may decline as well. She is in a coma at the moment. Which, in her case, is a blessing. Maybe, she will not remember the ordeal that she has been through. "
"Dr. Peterson, I wish that she wouldn't have to remember being kidnapped or the accident. But, the police won't be able to prosecute everyone involved without her testimony. I need everyone who took her and hurt her to burn in hell." Her voice was as shaky as her hands. She unsteadily walked back into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
Tamia looked down at Zion. She was covered in bandages and had a broken elbow and femur on the right side. Her left shoulder had been dislocated. She has suffered innumerable bruises and scratches. Her father had decided that he deserved to keep her. He had not seen her for three years. He had decided that Tamia had had Zion long enough. He mentioned how it would help him to get an earned income tax credit on his taxes and to not have to pay child support. He viciously attacked Tamia and kidnapped their daughter.
Zion whimpered and Tamia jumped up. Zion was in pain despite the medication she was given. Her mother gazed at the monitors. Her only child was lying in a hospital bed unconscious. Her heart began to ache. She gingerly touched her tiny hand and vowed that she would hunt down each individual who had a hand in this tragedy and make them pay.
