The Survivors

My grip on the steering wheel tightens, my knuckles turning white as I navigate each dangerous curve of the dark Irish road. The cliff edge looms ahead and my baby’s cries suddenly pierces the silence, sharp and relentless. I reach back to her, taking my eye off the road for just a moment. There is a terrifying crash of tearing metal before everything goes black.

I’m so looking forward to meeting Aunt Maura, my mother’s twin sister who lives on the rugged west coast of Ireland. With my own mother dying so suddenly, and my sweet baby daughter arriving, I need family around me. But instead of arriving at Maura’s house safe and sound, I wake up in hospital, badly injured. Then I remember the crash. Where is my baby?

Maura hands my little girl to me, and I hold her tight. I look closely at my baby’s precious face and something has changed, but Maura reassures me I just need time to recover. I’m so grateful to Maura for looking after us, but am I losing my mind? Have I made a terrible mistake coming here?

And every day, I’m remembering a little more about the night of the accident. I remember Maura’s face, even though my aunt swears she wasn’t there. Why is Maura lying to me, what’s wrong with my baby?

What really happened that night?