He had stood beside frightened mothers, overwhelmed fathers, and newborns who arrived too soon, too quiet, or too fragile. People trusted him because he never shook, never panicked, and never let the fear in the room become his own. But in Delivery Room Four, with gray winter light pressing against the windows, Robert looked at the newborn in the nurse\u2019s arms and felt the world tilt beneath him.The baby was tiny, angry at the cold, his little fists curled near his cheeks. Damp dark hair clung to his head. Just below his left collarbone, where the blanket had slipped aside, was a birthmark shaped like a broken crescent\u2014pale at the edges, darker in the center, like a small moon cut by shadow. For one impossible moment, Robert was no longer in the hospital. He was decades in the past, holding another newborn with the same mark in the same place. A child who had disappeared. A child he had believed was lost forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDoctor?\u201d the nurse asked.Joanna noticed his reaction. Exhausted from labor, her body still trembling, she lifted her head with the fierce awareness only a new mother has.\u201cIs something wrong?\u201d she whisperedRobert opened his mouth, but no words came. He wiped at his eyes quickly, as if embarrassed, then pushed his shaking hand into his coat pocket.\u201cNothing is wrong with the baby,\u201d he finally said, though his voice sounded fragile.Joanna\u2019s eyes narrowed.\u201cThen why are you crying?\u201dHe looked down at her chart again. Joanna Ellis. Twenty-eight years old. No emergency contact. No spouse listed. Father of child: not provided.\u201cMay I ask,\u201d Robert said carefully, \u201cwhat is the father\u2019s name?\u201doanna\u2019s fingers tightened around the sheets. She had spent seven months teaching herself not to react to that name.\u201cWhy?\u201d\u201cBecause I need to know.\u201dThe nurse shifted uneasily.\u201cDoctor, maybe this can wait.\u201d\u201cNo,\u201d Joanna said. \u201cIf something is wrong with my baby, you tell me now.\u201dRobert\u2019s face changed. The calm doctor\u2019s mask slipped, revealing an old man carrying a grief too heavy to hide.\u201cNothing is wrong with him,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I think I may know his family.\u201dFor months, family had meant only Joanna. Her hands on her stomach. Her voice in an empty apartment. Her aching body standing through long shifts at the diner because there was no one else.\u201cThe father\u2019s name,\u201d Robert repeated softly.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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