Chapter 7 - My Daughter
Sophie woke fully the next evening.
Her eyes opened slowly, confused by the ceiling, the monitors, and the soft blue blanket tucked around her. Mara was beside the bed, exactly where she had promised herself she would be.
“Mom?” Sophie whispered.
Mara leaned forward. “I’m here.”
Sophie’s eyes filled with panic. “Where’s Dad?”
“He can’t come in.”
“Is he mad?”
The question nearly destroyed Mara.
Not because Sophie asked it.
Because fear had trained her to ask it before asking whether she was safe.
Mara took her hand gently.
“It doesn’t matter if he’s mad. You are protected.”
Sophie blinked. “Am I in trouble?”
“No.”
“He said if I told, you’d stop wanting me.”
Mara’s throat tightened.
She climbed carefully onto the edge of the bed, far enough not to disturb the lines, close enough for Sophie to feel her.
“The day I adopted you was the day you became my daughter,” she said. “Nothing he says can undo that.”
Sophie cried then.
Not loudly.
Just tears slipping sideways into her hair while Mara held her hand and let the words become real.
Outside the room, Officer Ross stood near the nurses’ station. Child protection filed emergency orders. Hospital security adjusted the visitor list. Daniel’s access was suspended pending investigation.
The system was finally moving.
Late.
May you like
But moving.
And this time, Sophie was not alone inside it.
