“We wait.”
An hour passed.
Then another.
Eventually the silver-haired nurse returned.
“Mr.
Blackwood?”
I was standing before she finished my name.
“She’s alive.”
My knees nearly gave out.
The nurse continued before relief could settle.
“The team had to deliver the baby urgently because Ms.
Holloway’s condition was deteriorating.
The baby is receiving additional monitoring, but both mother and child made it through the procedure.”
I closed my eyes.
For two seconds, maybe three, I forgot how to breathe.
“Boy or girl?”
“A boy.”
The words struck somewhere deeper than fear.
A son.
Claire had given birth to a son while I sat outside knowing almost nothing about the life she had lived without me.
“Can I see her?”
“Not yet.
She’s still being stabilized.”
“The baby?”
“Not yet.”
I nodded because there was nothing else I could do.
The nurse hesitated.
“There is one more thing.”
My stomach tightened again.
“What?”
“When Ms.
Holloway arrived, she was conscious for a few minutes.
She repeatedly asked whether the baby was safe.
When we asked if there was anyone to contact, she said no at first.”
I looked at her.
“At first?”
“Then she gave us your name.
She told us not to call unless it became necessary.”
I swallowed.
“Did she say why?”
The nurse’s gaze held mine.
“She said, ‘He already chose to leave.'”
I sat down again.
No threat had ever hurt that cleanly.
She already chose to leave.
Claire had believed every word I said that morning nine months ago.
That had been the point.
I wanted her to believe me because I wanted her far from my world.
I had never considered what would happen if she needed me after I was gone.
I had confused absence with protection.
And Claire had paid for the difference.
Near midnight, Vanessa appeared at the end of the corridor.
She had been discharged.
Her coat was folded over one arm.
Mason stood and moved away, giving us space.
Vanessa stopped in front of me.
