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After a pause, I watched him compose himself.
His voice softened as he reassured Chloe.
"Chloe, go wait outside, okay? Glass everywhere, I don't want you hurt."
So he was just worried about her.My heart twisted.
Chloe, pleased, left the room.
When they were gone, my husband surveyed the wreckage.
He hated mess. Yet, he knelt and carefully picked up the dirt-smudged photo.
He tried to fix it, growing increasingly frustrated.
His knuckles turned white. Finally, glass shards cut his hands.
Only then did he snap out of it.
He flung the photo into the trash, disgusted. "What's the point? It just breaks again. Why keep this junk?"
I stared at the photo in the bin, wanting to retrieve it.
But my hand passed right through.
In that moment, I understood.
Maybe fate had been trying to tell me all along..
I was stubbornly clinging to the past, like that photo.
No matter how hard I tried to hold on, shattered things don't mend.
We were truly over...
The next day, my husband and his brother went to the hospital to investigate recent missing-persons cases involving pregnant women.
But as soon as they entered the lobby, they were approached..
"Excuse me, Dr. Rhodes? My daughter and I are leaving Riverside City, heading home. But before we go, we wanted to thank Dr. Nora personally."
"We wanted... to thank her properly. She saved my daughter during the earthquake."
"But we haven't seen her lately. Where is she?"
David's grip tightened on his files, his voice cold.
"Don't know her. You've got the wrong person."
The parents exchanged confused looks, smiles fading.
"But... the nurses said you're Dr. Nora's husband. We're simple folk, maybe we bothered you. Sorry."
"We just really wanted to see Dr. Nora. My daughter, Lily, can't speak. If Dr. Nora hadn't found her..."
"Please, just tell us where she is! We'll only take a moment!"
The mother wiped tears. Her daughter, Lily, tugged David's sleeve.
Silent, she made clumsy hand signs.
Frustrated tears welled in her eyes.
She signed: Dr. Nora is good. She saved me, lost her baby. I'm sad. I blame myself.
If I could, I'd be her daughter.
David knew sign language. He understood.
He grabbed her shoulders urgently.
"What did you mean? What did you just say?"
"You said she was pregnant? When?"
Lily flinched. Her mother pulled her back.
Explained, "Dr. Nora didn't tell you? She was pregnant during the quake. Saving Lily... and lost her baby."
David staggered. My husband caught him. He looked pale.
“No… that's not possible,” he muttered. “Did she put you up to this? Did she pay you to lie?”
He grasped at the thought, a bitter laugh escaping.
"How thoughtful of her! Hiring actors! Think I'd believe her?"
"If it weren't for her, my mother wouldn't be in that hospital bed!"
"Choosing a stranger over family! I hate people like that! She makes me sick!"
David erupted.
The mother recoiled. "But... she was saving lives..."
Yes, she was a doctor... Life is sacred. She saved who she could. How is that wrong?
"Dr. Rhodes! Your mother's awake!"
A nurse rushed over with the news.
My husband and David hurried to the ICU.
Watching their mother open her eyes.
David cried. "Mom... you're awake."
