gentle sound of Emily breathing in her sleep.
Then came a strange noise.
A sharp gasp.
Several seconds of unsettling silence.
Then another desperate breath.
I stared at the phone.
“What… what is that?”
Richard’s eyes filled with tears.
“That’s Emily.”
I looked at my daughter, who was now sitting up in bed, confused by our voices.
Richard explained that several nights earlier, he had heard an unusual sound coming from her bedroom.
When he checked on her, he noticed that her breathing became irregular during sleep.
At first, he assumed the heat was causing her discomfort.
But the following night, the same thing happened.
He began recording the sounds so that a doctor could hear them.
“I was afraid something was wrong,” he said quietly. “I kept checking on her, especially when the room was hot.”
He showed me several recordings.
Each contained the same disturbing pauses and sudden