The mountain road had collapsed. My son was trapped. I was the only rescue driver who could get a vehicle up there. My wife was on the phone, screaming herself hoarse — the only one who knew exactly where our son was: “West road! Our son is on the west road!” Without hesitation, I yanked the wheel — then a stream of floating comments flashed across my vision: [you have no idea you’re being played.] [The kid trapped on the west road is the son of Elise’s ex, Renato!] [If you actually take the west road, your son will die on the east road waiting for help that never comes!] [And after you save some other man’s kid, Elise will report you for deliberately taking the wrong route.] [You’ll think you just misheard her. You’ll jump off a building.] [Elise will marry Renato. The kid you saved won’t just survive — he’ll get into Stanford and pull in seven figures a year.] I stared at the words floating in front of me. Elise’s voice was breaking apart on the other end of the line, screaming “west road” over and over. I hesitated for a moment — then wrenched the wheel hard.
The truck climbed the east mountain road. The floating comments flickered wildly: [No way — Santiago changed course!] [What’s going on? Can he actually see our messages?] [Yes! Sori’s going to make it!] [Go, Santiago! Sori’s running out of time!] I gripped the wheel so hard my knuckles ached. But the voice in my earpiece was getting more and more frantic: “Santiago, are you on your way?” I hesitated. “Yeah.” “You’re sure it’s the west road? Sori’s vitals are almost gone — there’s no room for any mistakes here!” I faltered. Elise picked up on it immediately from the other end of the line: “Did you take the wrong road?” “I…” “Santiago, Sori doesn’t have much time!” “If you went the wrong way, turn around now! There’s still a chance! Any longer and Sori is really going to die!!” Elise never panicked. Not once. But right now, her voice was on the verge of tears. “Santiago… please. Save Sori. He’s all we have.” I wavered. Sori was a miracle we’d fought hard for. Elise had devoted herself to him in ways I couldn’t match. She’d insisted on breastfeeding, hired a nutritionist to plan every meal after he was weaned, and had already set up a trust fund for when he turned eighteen. Suddenly I felt ridiculous. How had I, in that one split second, chosen to trust a stream of mysterious floating comments over the woman I’d spent ten years of my life with? I took a deep breath and jerked the wheel back. [Are you insane?!] [If you do this, Sori is gone for good!] [Keep going straight — there’s still time to save him!] [Wait, did Elise say something to him?] [Don’t let her get in your head! She will do anything for Renato’s kid. Anything.] [Even throw her own son away!] [He’s done. The main character’s going to take the blame and jump off a building.] [You don’t even know Elise has been putting money away for Renato’s kid this whole time.] I slammed on the brakes. Elise had been putting money away for Renato’s kid? The comments kept pouring in: [He doesn’t know that the day Sori had a fever, Elise didn’t have an emergency. She was with Renato — a widower who needed a shoulder to cry on.] [It’s almost funny. Renato dumped her back then, she swore she was done with him. Then he showed up holding his kid and crying on his knees, and she just… melted.] [She breastfed that kid. Hired a nutritionist for him. Set up an eighteen-year trust fund for him.] [Poor guy has no idea. The leftovers Elise brought home for Sori were actually that other kid’s leftovers. He thought she’d prepared it specially for their son.]
How could this be happening? “Santiago, are you almost there?” Elise’s voice trembled slightly in my ear. If that trembling was for someone else’s child… then what were Sori and I to her? But what if these floating words were just hallucinations? After all, Elise and I had been through ten years together. The two voices tore at me from every direction. I shut my eyes, drew a long breath, and twisted the wheel.
Those ten minutes on the road were the longest of my life. If the comments were lying to me, I’d be failing both Sori and Elise. But I’d been hesitating so long that the car had already traveled several miles. There was no turning back. Unless Elise had actually lied to me — in which case I’d regret this for the rest of my life. But would she really deceive me? The car pulled up to the landslide. I spotted a small figure pinned inside a crushed vehicle. “Sori? Is that Sori?!” I sprinted over. The car had flipped upside down. The child was hanging inverted in his car seat. Blood covered his face — I couldn’t wipe it away fast enough. But the small red birthmark on his wrist told me everything. This was Sori. “D… Daddy…” A tiny voice, barely a whisper. Sori forced his bloodied eyes open and flashed a little gap-toothed smile: “Mommy wasn’t lying… “Mommy really did send Daddy to find me~” “Daddy’s here…” Elise had lied to me after all. I grabbed the rescue equipment from the truck, cut through the car frame, and pulled Sori free. I held him against my chest and started emergency pressure on his wounds. He lay in my arms — four years old, wounds cut down to the bone — and he didn’t cry. Didn’t make a sound. He just clenched his jaw and endured it. Through the pain, he even managed to ask: “Is Mommy okay? “When I got stuck in the car, a big rock crushed her leg too.” [Sori still believes in his mom, even now.] [Sweet kid. Elise did start out trying to get him help — but halfway there, she got a call from Renato…] [Poor little guy. He doesn’t know Elise has already decided to let him go.] I tightened my grip on the bandage. “You don’t need to worry about her.” Sori blinked his big eyes up at me. “So… Mommy’s okay?” “She’s fine.” I lifted him into my arms. “She’s doing just fine.” The moment we got in the truck, Elise’s voice came through my earpiece: “Santiago — did you get Sori?” That voice — so tense, so desperate. For a moment I couldn’t speak. Elise had been driving Sori through the mountain pass when the landslide hit. She’d crawled out of the wreck herself. How could she possibly not know which road Sori was on? Was it really just a mistake? Ten years of marriage made me want one last confirmation. “Elise.” My voice came out rough. “You’re sure it’s the west road, right?”
“I’m sure.” No hesitation on the other end. “I was on the west road with Sori when the accident happened. How could I possibly be wrong about where he is? “Why are you even asking?” Her voice sharpened instantly: “Don’t tell me you took the wrong road.” I gripped the wheel. “No.” A long exhale from Elise. “What about Sori? How is he?” “Got him out. Emergency bleeding’s been controlled. Taking him to the hospital now.” “Thank God…” The relief in her voice made it sound like all the strength had left her body. I heard people on her end rushing to steady her: “Ms. Elise, you’re injured yourself — you shouldn’t be monitoring the field operation like this.” “Santiago is the best driver and rescue specialist on the team, and he’s out there saving his own kid. You should have faith in him.” “Exactly. You’ve lost so much blood. Please, just rest.” Elise’s voice was faint: “I couldn’t relax until I knew Sori was safe.” “They’re not wrong about Santiago and Elise — everyone says they’re the real deal. I believe it now.” The voices on her end blurred together. I stopped being able to make out the words. The truck flew along the mountain road. My hands locked around the wheel. I bit down hard on my back teeth. My wife had risked her own safety to monitor every move I made — not for our son. For another man’s child. I pressed my earpiece. “Honey, I’m taking Sori to the hospital now. Is there anyone else on the other road?” A pause on her end. “No. There isn’t.” My chest went cold. I let out a short, quiet laugh. “Then I’m heading straight to the hospital.” “Good. Move fast. That kid can’t wait.” I hadn’t thought Elise would go this far for Renato’s child. I ended the call and drove Sori directly to the nearest hospital.
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