Chapter 4 - The Paper Trail
By midnight, Sophie’s arm was safely immobilized in a bright purple splint. The mild concussion check was clear, her vital signs were perfectly stable, and she was fast asleep on the trauma bed, exhausted from the pain and the late hour.
Nurse Sarah walked into the room carrying a stack of discharge papers.
"Dr. Brooks, these are ready for your signature," she said, handing me the clipboard.
I signed my name quickly at the bottom of the form. "Her vitals are good, Sarah. She's cleared for discharge. Make sure Mr. Hart gets the prescription for pediatric ibuprofen."
"I'll bring the wheelchair," Sarah said, stepping back out into the hallway.
I turned to gather my stethoscope and chart. Elias was standing near the window, his long coat draped over his arm, watching his sleeping daughter.
"She's going to be fine," I told him quietly, keeping my eyes on my clipboard. "Keep the splint dry, keep her arm elevated on a pillow tonight, and bring her back to the pediatric clinic in two weeks for a checkup."
Elias didn't look at the papers. He walked around the bed until he was standing directly in front of me, blocking my path to the door.
"You're thirty-one weeks pregnant," he whispered, his voice low so as not to wake Sophie. "You left my apartment on December twenty-first."
"Elias, don't do this here," I said quietly.
"December twenty-first," he repeated, his eyes burning into mine. "That means you knew by mid-January. You've known for six months, Adelaide. Six months."
"I knew what I needed to know," I said, holding my head high. "I knew that you sat at your kitchen table and told me you didn't know how to build a family. I knew you didn't fight for us."
"So you decided to keep my child a secret from me?!" he demanded, his voice dropping an octave, thick with rising anger and desperation. "You had my baby inside you and you just... walked away?"
"I didn't walk away from my baby, Elias!" I snapped back in a sharp whisper, stepping close enough that he could see the absolute conviction in my eyes. "I walked away from a man who made it abundantly clear that he had no room in his life for a future with me. I wasn't going to force a child onto someone who viewed family as a burden!"
Elias flinched as if I had slapped him.
"I never said a child was a burden," he rasped.
"You didn't have to say it," I replied coldly. "Your silence said everything."
Before he could answer, Nurse Sarah pushed the double doors open, rolling a pediatric wheelchair into the room.
"All set, Mr. Hart," Sarah said cheerfully, oblivious to the storm raging between us. "Let me help you get Sophie into the chair so we can get you two home."
Elias closed his eyes for a long moment, taking a deep, shuddering breath. When he opened them, the cold, analytical lawyer was gone. In his place was a man who looked completely unraveled.
He gently lifted Sophie into his arms. She murmured sleepily, resting her head against his shoulder, her bright purple splint resting against his dark coat.
Elias looked at me over her head.
"This isn't over, Adelaide," he said quietly. "I'm coming back tomorrow."
"I have a twelve-hour shift tomorrow, Elias," I said flatly. "I don't have time for this."
"Then I'll wait until your shift is over," he said. "Because you are carrying my child. And whether you like it or not, we are going to talk about what happens next."
He turned and walked out of the room, carrying his daughter into the night.
May you like
I stood alone in Room Four, listening to the beep of the empty monitor. I rested both hands on my heavy, round stomach, feeling the strong, rhythmic kicks of my baby girl.
"Don't worry, little one," I whispered into the quiet room. "I won't let anyone make you feel unwanted. Not even your father."
