“I’m here,” he whispers. His voice is hoarse, raw. “I’ve got you.”
My chest tightens painfully. The memories slam back into me all at once—the car, Rose’s manic smile, my mother’s cruel words, Lucas dragging me by my hair… The straps. The scalpel.
I flinch before I can stop myself, and Ethan’s face crumples.
“No, no, it’s okay,” he says quickly, both hands cupping my face now. “You’re safe. You’re safe, Natalie. I swear.”
I try to breathe through the panic clawing at me. There’s only one thing I need to know—only one thing that matters. I grip his wrist with desperate strength.
“The baby,” I gasp out. “Our baby—is?—?”
“The baby’s fine,” he assures me. “Perfect. Strong. You—you protected it, even when…”
He can’t finish. His forehead presses to the back of my hand like he’s praying.
I start crying then, silent sobs that rock through my battered body. Relief floods every vein like lightning, so intense it’s almost unbearable. I’m still here. My baby is still here.
When I finally find my voice again, it’s a whisper. “What happened?”
His whole body tenses.
“They’re all under arrest,” he says, voice like steel. “Your mother, Lucas, Rose... even the clinic staff. They’re being charged with kidnapping, attempted murder—” His arms tighten around me. “They’ll never come near you again. I swear to you, Natalie.”
I nod against him, too drained to speak. Everything feels unreal, like a nightmare I’m still half-trapped in. But Ethan’s real. His heartbeat is real. Our baby is real.
After a long moment, he pulls back just enough to look at me. His eyes are stormy, his jaw tight. There’s something else he needs to say; it’s obvious from the look in his eyes.
“Why did you get in the car?” he asks finally, his voice rough. “You know better. You’re smarter than that.”
I close my eyes, swallowing against the lump in my throat. “It wasn’t—She had a gun, Ethan.”
Ethan goes still.
“She was pointing it at me, but I knew that if I didn’t go with her, she would have hurt your mother. I couldn’t let anything happen to your mom. Not because of me.”
Ethan exhales sharply, like I’ve punched him in the gut. His hands cradle my face again, gentler than anything I’ve ever known.
“You’re safe now,” he says fiercely. “You’re here with me, and I’m going to take care of everything else.”
Tears spill down my cheeks again, and he kisses them away, one by one, his lips warm against my skin.
I lean into his hand, trying to sort out my thoughts. “How long have I been?—?”
“Two days. The mental strain of everything was too much, according to the doctor. I’ve been right here by your side. And when I had to step away, Roland or my mother took over.”
“Roland,” I breathe, meeting Ethan’s gaze. “Is he really my father? Is it true?”
“It’s true,” he says quietly. “He’s your biological father, Natalie.”
I close my eyes for a second, letting the truth settle over me. It feels like the axis of my reality just moved.
I open my eyes, staring up at the ceiling, the fluorescent light casting harsh shadows across the sterile white tiles.
“Can I meet him?” I ask, my voice uneven. “I want to see him. I need to know why he left, why he wasn’t there.”
Ethan stiffens. For a moment, he doesn’t say anything. His jaw clenches like he’s fighting himself. I can see it in the way his hand tightens around mine, the way his eyes darken.
There’s something he wants to tell me, something burning on the tip of his tongue.
