His gaze moved toward Sophie’s door.
That ended the argument.
I left the hospital alone.
The next morning, I returned for rounds and found a paper cup of tea on the desk in the physicians’ lounge.
My name was written on the side in Elias’s precise block letters.
Beneath it lay a note.
You always hated the cafeteria coffee.
Sophie is comfortable.
I am not asking you to forgive me.
I am asking for one conversation when you are ready.
I crumpled the note and threw it away.
Then I took it out of the trash, flattened it, and slipped it into my pocket.
Sophie was awake when I visited her room.
Naomi had officially taken over, but I told myself I was checking the circulation in her fingers.
Elias stood by the window, speaking quietly on the phone.
When he saw me, he ended the call immediately.
Sophie lifted her cast.
“It glows in the dark.”
“That sounds medically essential,” I said.
“It is.” She lowered her voice.
“Daddy did not sleep.”
“I can hear you,” Elias said.
“You were walking around all night.”
He gave his daughter a look that had probably intimidated business partners and contractors.
Sophie merely smiled.
A nurse arrived with discharge instructions.
Elias listened to every word, asked sensible questions, and wrote down the medication schedule.
He did not try to pull me aside again.
That restraint affected me more than another apology would have.
As he helped Sophie into her coat, she looked at my stomach.
“Does the baby have a name?”
“Not yet.”
“Daddy is good at names.”
Elias froze with one of Sophie’s sleeves in his hand.
I answered carefully.
“The baby’s father and I have a lot to discuss first.”
Sophie looked from me to him.
“Is Daddy the father?”
There are questions adults postpone because we believe delay will protect everyone.
Children walk straight through those defenses.
Elias crouched beside her.
“Yes,” he said.
“I am.”
Sophie’s eyes widened.
“Then she really is my sister?”
“Yes.”
A smile spread across her face so quickly that I had to look away.
She threw her uninjured arm around his neck.
“I knew it.”
Elias held her tightly, his face pressed against her hair.
When he looked up at me, there was gratitude in his expression, but he did not claim more than I had offered.
Before leaving, he placed a business card on the counter.
His private number was written on the back, though I already knew it by memory.
“Call me when you decide what you are willing to discuss,” he said.
“I will not appear at your home or your appointments without permission.”
That mattered.
