Chương 11
That felt appropriate.
Claire released his hand.
He looked up.
She did not need to say anything.
He understood that much.
The nurses began preparing to move Claire to recovery.
Ethan stood.
“Can I go with her?”
The nurse looked at Claire.
Claire looked at the two bassinets.
“Where do the babies go?”
“With you if they remain stable.”
“Both?”
“We’ll reassess Micah.”
Claire nodded.
Ethan waited.
She could see the question in his face.
“Come.”
He stepped closer.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.”
“Right.”
The doors opened.
Claire’s bed rolled out first.
The bassinets followed.
Ethan walked behind them.
At the end of the corridor, his powered-off phone remained inside the belongings bag, but the hospital desk had already logged four calls from a woman identifying herself as the babies’ grandmother.
The recovery room was quieter than the operating suite, though Claire could still hear carts rolling in the hallway and someone laughing softly at a nurses’ station beyond the curtain.
Nora lay against Claire’s chest beneath a warm blanket, making tiny rooting motions against the hospital gown.
Micah remained in the bassinet beside the bed while a nurse watched the oxygen monitor clipped to his foot.
Claire kept looking at the number.
Ninety-seven.
Then ninety-six.
Then ninety-eight.
Every change felt personal.
The nurse noticed.
“You’re going to make yourself crazy watching that.”
“I’m already crazy.”
“You’re postoperative.”
“Is that the polite medical version?”
“It covers a lot.”
Claire smiled without lifting her head.
Nora smelled unfamiliar and warm.
Not like the baby shampoo Claire had stocked at home.
Not like anything Claire had imagined.
She smelled like skin and milk that had not happened yet and the faint sterile scent of the blanket.
Ethan stood near the foot of the bed.
He had changed out of the disposable surgical suit but was still in the wrinkled pale shirt.
His suit jacket was apparently back at the house.
Claire wondered who would bring it.
Then she wondered why she cared.
“Do you want to hold her?”
Ethan looked up too quickly.
“Only if you want me to.”
Claire studied him.
That answer would once have irritated her.
Now she understood he was trying not to assume anything.
“Yes.”
He came closer.
The nurse showed him where to place his arms even though he had practiced with a doll in the childbirth class.
His confidence disappeared the moment Nora became real.
Claire watched him sit with the baby.
He looked terrified.
Nora opened her mouth and made a small squeaking sound.
Ethan froze.
“She did something.”
Claire stared at him.
“She breathed.”
“I know.”
“Good start.”
He looked down at Nora.
His mouth trembled.
“Hi.”
Claire turned toward Micah.
His chest continued moving beneath the striped blanket.
The nurse checked him again.
“Still doing well.”
“When can I hold him?”
“As soon as we’re comfortable he doesn’t need extra observation.”
“How long is that?”
“Could be soon.”
Claire sighed.
“Everyone in this building hates exact answers.”
The nurse smiled.
“It protects our careers.”
A knock came at the partially open door.
Dana entered holding Claire’s blue folder and belongings bag.
“I brought the important stuff.”
Claire glanced at Ethan.
“My rings are in there.”
“They are.”
Dana placed the bag in a locked drawer and handed Claire the folder.
Claire rested it beside her hip.
The emergency sheet was still inside.
She knew because the corner with the red circle showed above the other papers.
She slid it deeper into the folder.
She did not want to look at it.
Dana checked Claire’s blood pressure.
“One-forty-two over eighty-eight.”
Claire waited.
“Better?”
“Better.”
“Good enough?”
“We like the direction.”
“There you go again.”
Dana grinned.
“Hospital vocabulary.”
Ethan shifted Nora higher against his chest.
“Does Claire need medication after discharge?”
Dana looked at Claire before answering.
“That depends on how her blood pressure trends and what Dr. Patel decides.”
Ethan nodded.
He did not ask another question.
Claire noticed that too.
The door opened farther.
A hospital administrator wearing a navy cardigan appeared.
“Mrs. Bennett?”
Claire’s stomach tightened.
“Yes.”
“My name is Rachel.”
The woman stayed near the doorway.
“I wanted to confirm your visitor preferences.”
Claire looked at Ethan.
His expression changed.
Rachel continued.
“We’ve received several calls from someone identifying herself as Victoria Bennett.”
Claire felt something cold move through her despite the blanket.
“I don’t want her here.”
“Understood.”
“She is not authorized for information.”
“We’ve documented that.”
“Did anyone tell her anything?”
“No medical information.”
Rachel glanced at a tablet.
“She was told that staff could not confirm patient information.”
Claire exhaled.
Ethan looked down at Nora.
Rachel continued.
“She also arrived at the hospital about fifteen minutes ago.”
Ethan’s head lifted.
Claire closed her eyes.
Of course she had.
“Is she upstairs?”
“No.”
Rachel’s voice remained calm.
“She is in the main lobby.”
Claire opened her eyes again.
“Keep her there.”
“We will.”
Ethan stood carefully while holding Nora.
“Give her to me.”
He looked at Claire.
“I’m going downstairs.”
“No.”
He stopped.
Claire shifted against the pillows and winced at the pull across her abdomen.
“You said I should handle her.”
“I said without involving me.”
“That’s what I’m doing.”
“If you go down there angry, you’re going to make a scene.”
His jaw tightened.
“So?”
“So I have two newborns and blood pressure everyone keeps treating like a bomb.”
Ethan looked toward Rachel.
“Can security remove her?”
Rachel answered.
“If she refuses to respect the visitor restrictions or causes disruption, yes.”
Claire looked at Ethan.
“Then let them do their job.”
He stared at the floor.
Nora made another small noise.
His entire posture changed.
He looked down at her and immediately softened.
Claire felt something painful in her chest that had nothing to do with surgery.
He loved their daughter.
She had never doubted that he would.
That did not erase the kitchen.
Nothing erased the kitchen.
Rachel nodded.
“I’ll let you rest.”
She left.
May you like
Ethan sat again.
Claire watched him for a moment.
