The custody case had been withdrawn. Eric never regained the easy trust Sophie once gave him, but he stopped demanding it. He earned back pieces slowly—by arriving on time, listening before speaking, and admitting when fear made him cruel.
Daniel’s forgiveness came even more slowly.
That was all right.
Some wounds close without disappearing.
Before we left, a nurse handed me Sophie’s newest laboratory report. The hCG line showed a result beneath the measurable range.
It was the same hormone that had caused a doctor to remove Daniel from Sophie’s room.
The same hormone that had brought a detective into our lives.
The same hormone that had made my daughter wonder whether an impossible baby was growing inside her.
Sophie leaned against me.
“Mom?”
“Yes?”
“If that first test had been negative, would they have found the tumor?”
I looked toward Dr. Shah.
“Maybe not as early,” she said. “The headaches and vision problems would eventually have led us there. But the test made us keep searching when the first ultrasound found nothing.”
