CHAPTER 5: Emily Wakes Up

Emily woke up on Tuesday afternoon. The doctor only let Daniel in for a few minutes. The room was blindingly white, the sound of the monitor beeping
Their breaths were like borrowed breaths.

When Emily saw Daniel, she looked at him for a long time. She felt no resentment, no surprise. Her first question was, “Where is Noah?”

“He’s outside. He’s safe.”

Emily closed her eyes, tears slowly trickling down her temples. “Did he bother you?”

That question hurt more than any accusation. Daniel wanted to say that he was the one who had bothered her life with his absence, but his throat tightened.

“No. Noah was very well-behaved.”

Emily smiled weakly. “He was well-behaved too soon.”

She recounted the events of the past in disjointed detail. She had sent letters, called, and visited Daniel. Someone from the Cross office said Daniel didn’t want anything to do with the child. They offered money. She refused. Then she lost her job, her house, and Noah’s birth certificate was altered.

“I thought you knew,” she said. “Then I thought you didn’t want to know.”
Daniel lowered his head. “I didn’t know.”

Noah was brought in. He stood beside the bed, carefully avoiding the IV line. Emily raised her hand, and only then did he dare to rest his face against her palm.

“I found him,” Noah whispered.
Before drifting off to sleep, Emily grasped Daniel’s wrist. “Don’t trust papers too easily. If they hid Noah for eight years, they’ll hide other things too.”