Chapter 4 - The Longest Night in the Hospital
Sophie’s examination showed no serious injury.
She had a mild concussion and needed observation for several hours, but the scan revealed no dangerous internal damage.
Elias sat beside her hospital bed, holding her hand.
Adelaide reviewed the results at the end of the bed.
“She should recover fully,” Adelaide explained. “She needs rest, limited screen time, and someone should remain with her for the next twenty-four hours.”
Relief moved through Elias’s face.
“Thank you.”
Adelaide nodded professionally.
As she turned to leave, Sophie called her name.
“Will you stay until I fall asleep?”
Adelaide hesitated.
She should have said no.
She had other patients. She had boundaries. She had spent months rebuilding her life.
But Sophie was watching her with the same trusting eyes Adelaide remembered.
“I can stay for a few minutes.”
Sophie moved her hand across the blanket.
Adelaide sat beside her.
Elias remained on the other side of the bed.
For a while, no one spoke.
Then Sophie looked at Adelaide’s belly.
“Is it really a girl?”
Adelaide smiled despite herself.
“Yes.”
“I knew it.”
“How?”
“Daddy talks in his sleep.”
Elias frowned.
“I do not.”
“You said you wanted another little girl because you already knew how to braid hair.”
“I barely know how to braid your hair.”
“That’s why you need practice.”
Adelaide laughed softly.
The sound made Elias look at her.
It was the first familiar thing he had heard all night.
Sophie’s eyelids grew heavy.
“Did you leave because of me?” she asked.
Adelaide’s smile disappeared.
“No, sweetheart.”
“Grandma said you wanted Daddy without me.”
Elias stiffened.
Adelaide glanced at him before returning her attention to Sophie.
“That was never true. Loving your father always meant loving you too.”
“Then why didn’t you come back?”
Adelaide swallowed.
“Sometimes adults make mistakes because they are hurt or afraid.”
“Did Daddy make a mistake?”
Elias closed his eyes.
Adelaide did not rescue him.
“Yes,” he said quietly. “Daddy made a terrible mistake.”
Sophie considered this.
“Can you fix it?”
“I don’t know.”
“Doctors fix things.”
“Some things need more than doctors.”
Sophie reached for Adelaide’s hand and placed it in Elias’s.
Neither adult expected the gesture.
Their fingers touched.
Adelaide immediately pulled away.
Sophie was already drifting to sleep.
Once her breathing became steady, Adelaide stood.
Elias followed her into the hallway.
“Is the baby mine?” he asked again.
Adelaide’s hand moved protectively over her stomach.
“Yes.”
The answer struck him with visible force.
He pressed one hand against the wall.
“A daughter?”
“Yes.”
“When is she due?”
“September.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I called you. I emailed you. I sent an ultrasound image to your house.”
“I never received it.”
“That does not change what happened.”
“No, but it changes what I knew.”
Adelaide looked through the window at Sophie.
“The night I left, you believed Margaret’s accusations without evidence. You let me walk away. After that, whether you received my messages or not, I had already learned what happened when someone else questioned my place in your family.”
Elias lowered his voice.
“I was wrong.”
“You were.”
“I need to understand what happened to your messages.”
“That is your problem to solve.”
He nodded.
“Will you let me be part of the baby’s life?”
Adelaide’s expression softened, but only slightly.
“You have the right to know your child. But being her father does not automatically make you my partner again.”
“I understand.”
“No, Elias. I need you to truly understand. An apology will not erase seven months. Finding out who hid my messages will not erase the moment you looked at me and wondered whether I was capable of abandoning Sophie.”
Elias looked through the glass at his sleeping daughter.
“What can I do?”
“Start by taking care of Sophie.”
Adelaide walked away before he could ask anything else.
For the first time, Elias did not follow.
He knew chasing Adelaide down the hallway would not prove he had changed.
Only the truth could do that.
May you like
And he finally intended to find it.
---
