Not of the hospital.
Not of doctors.
Not of his memories.
Of the truth.
He looked back at the tiny baby inside the incubator.
Then he whispered:
“Because she isn’t abandoned.”
I frowned.
“What do you mean?”
His eyes filled with tears.
And the next words changed everything.
“Her mother didn’t leave her here.”
He paused.
“She left her here to find me.”
I felt the air leave my lungs.
“Arthur… what are you saying?”
He slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out an old, folded photograph.
The edges were worn.
The picture looked like it had been carried for years.
He placed it on the table beside the incubator.
I looked down.
And my entire body went cold.
Because the woman in the photograph…
Was Baby Girl Sterling’s mother.
And standing beside her…
Was Arthur Vance.
Twenty years younger.
Without scars.
Without the haunted eyes.
And holding a newborn baby.
Arthur looked at me.
Then at the tiny girl fighting for her life.
And whispered:
“I never knew I had a daughter.”
But before I could ask another question…
The NICU doors opened.
A woman in a luxury coat walked in with two attorneys behind her.
She looked directly at the incubator.
Then at Arthur.
And smiled.
“Well…”
She said quietly.
“I see you finally found the child we thought you would never know existed.”
Arthur stood up slowly.
His face changed.
Because he recognized her.
And so did I.
She wasn’t a stranger.
She was the person who had signed the papers claiming Baby Girl Sterling had no family.
The person who abandoned her.
And she had just walked back into the NICU.
To take her back.
