“I’m going to check you gently,” I told the little girl. “You tell me if anything hurts too much, okay?”
“Okay.”
Then I turned to Julian.
“Sir, I need you to step back so we can examine her.”
Our eyes met.
Six months disappeared.
Recognition hit him first. Then shock.
Then his eyes moved to my rounded belly beneath my scrubs.
“Clara,” he whispered.
Not Doctor.
Not a stranger’s name.
Clara.
The name he used when I still believed he would someday be brave enough to love me out loud.
I looked away.
“Let’s get vitals, neuro checks, and imaging for her left arm,” I told the nurse.
The team moved quickly.
I checked Chloe’s pupils, asked her questions, and kept her calm.
But Julian kept staring.
I knew what he was thinking.
Seven months pregnant.
Six months since the night I left his kitchen crying and asked, “Do you love me, Julian? Not need me. Not want me. Love me.”
And he had whispered the words that broke everything.
“I can’t give you what you need. I don’t know how to build a family.”
So I walked away.
Three weeks later, I found out I hadn’t walked away alone.
“Dr. Clara?”
Chloe’s voice pulled me back.
“Yes, honey?”
“You’re really pretty.” Her eyes moved to my stomach. “Are you having a baby?”
I smiled softly.
“I am. In about two months.”
“That’s so cool,” Chloe said. “I always wanted a little sister.”
Behind me, Julian made the smallest sound.
But I heard it.
Of course I heard it.
I used to know every change in his breathing.
The scans showed Chloe had a minor wrist fracture. She was safe.
Later that night, Julian found me in the consultation room.
“Is it mine?” he asked.
My hand moved to my belly before I could stop it.
“Your daughter needs you right now,” I said.
“Clara.”
“No.”
My voice shook.
“You don’t get to do this in a hospital hallway after six months of silence.”
His face tightened.
“I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t look.”
“I thought you wanted me gone.”
“I wanted you to fight.”
The words landed harder than I expected.
Julian looked away.
“I was a coward,” he said quietly.
“Yes,” I answered.
I left before he could see my tears.
But I stayed at the hospital.
At 11:47 p.m., my phone buzzed.
Julian.
The message was short.
Chloe keeps asking for the pretty doctor with the baby. She won’t sleep. Would you mind checking on her?
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