Numbness spread through her body as she dropped the knife she'd been holding. Everything seemed to have gone into slow motion since she's realised what she'd done. Unable to move, all she could do was stare as her daughter lay on the kitchen floor in a pool of her own blood. Grace made no noise as she lay motionless, the only sign of life was the slight and uneven rise and fall of her chest as she tried to breathe.
Connie knew exactly what to do to save her daughter and yet her mind couldn't process what had happened to get to a position where she could help. She wasn't even sure what'd happened, one minute she was muddling through the stress that had become a normal part of her life and the next thing she knew she had a knife in her hand which was covered in blood and her 8 year old daughter was on the floor.
"Help, it's my daughter!" Connie spoke through the numbness she felt, surprised at how she seemingly felt nothing regarding the events that had just taken place.
"What's happened?" The operator asked.
"I need an ambulance, my daughter has been stabbed." Connie told the operator, omitting the fact that it was her who had caused the wound.
"Okay, try and keep pressure on it and an ambulance will be with you as soon as possible."
"I know what to do, I'm a doctor." Connie replied curtly before putting the phone down.
"This is Grace Beauchamp, she's 8 and has a stab wound to the upper abdomen, we haven't managed to stem the bleed yet. Pulse was 60 and BP 80/40, we've given her 10 of morphine." The paramedic spoke as Grace was wheeled into the ED and through to resus. "Her mother is just outside the door, we think she was the cause of the wound. Police are on their way." The paramedic spoke before they left.
"As I'm sure you're all aware this is Mrs Beauchamp's daughter," Zoe began, feeling her heart break as she looked down at the state that the little girl was in. "let's make sure we're treat her as well as we can guys." She finished while doing a primary survey.
Unfortunately the team were too late, Grace had suffered a massive internal bleed while in resus and despite several rounds of shocks and CPR she never came back round. Connie looked on from outside the door and yet emotion was still to hit her, from her position she could see that her team had given up. The little girl that she had promised to love and protect was gone and it was all down to her.
"Mrs Beauchamp?" A man asked from behind her.
"Yes?" Connie asked, trying to maintain a normal voice.
"I'm arresting you on suspicion of the murder of Grace Beauchamp. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Any questions?" The police man told her, to which Connie shook her head slightly, taking one more look back through the door at her daughter laying still with the wires and tubes being removed carefully from her peaceful body before the handcuffs were put on and she was escorted to a police car. This was when the first tear fell, it escaped from her eye and streamed gently down her cheek. Connie had killed her own daughter and now the loss and her own guilt was beginning to sink in.