Chapter 6 - The Choice Hannah Had to Make
Three weeks later, Leo weighed almost a pound more.
Dr. Warren stared at the chart as if it had personally insulted his medical education.
“This is excellent.”
I looked at him.
“Excellent?”
“Yes.”
“Not acceptable?”
“Excellent.”
“Not cautiously optimistic?”
Warren smiled.
“Adrian, your son is improving.”
Hannah stood beside the crib.
“Tell him the other part.”
Warren sighed.
“He may soon be strong enough to transition gradually to an appropriate feeding plan under medical supervision.”
I should have been celebrating.
Instead, I looked at Hannah.
“So he won’t need you.”
She smiled.
“That’s the goal.”
I didn’t like the sentence.
Not because Leo no longer needing Hannah was bad.
Because I had become accustomed to her being there.
The mansion had changed.
She argued with my chefs.
Corrected my security guards.
Opened curtains I had kept closed since Sophia died.
She even moved one of Sophia’s photographs back into the living room after I had hidden it in a drawer.
When I confronted her, she simply said, “Leo deserves to know what his mother looked like.”
I hadn’t moved it again.
That afternoon, Hannah received a phone call.
She listened silently.
Then sat down.
“What happened?”
She looked at me.
“The district attorney.”
“And?”
“Eric is taking a plea.”
I waited.
“He admitted assaulting me.”
Her voice trembled.
“He admitted pushing me.”
She covered her mouth.
“He admitted Lily died because of him.”
I approached her carefully.
“What happens now?”
“He’s cooperating in the bombing case. They’re recommending a long prison sentence.”
“Is that enough?”
Hannah looked at me.
“No.”
I understood.
Nothing would ever be enough.
“But it’s real,” she said.
“Yes.”
“It’s on the record.”
“Yes.”
“He can’t tell people I fell anymore.”
“No.”
Her eyes filled.
For months, she had wanted one thing more than revenge.
To hear the truth spoken aloud.
I sat beside her.
She rested her head against my shoulder.
Neither of us spoke.
Then Leo started crying through the monitor.
Hannah laughed softly.
“Your son has terrible timing.”
“He gets it from me.”
We went upstairs together.
That evening, Dean found me in the library.
“You’re in love with her.”
I looked up.
“Go away.”
“That’s a yes.”
“She buried her child weeks ago.”
“I didn’t say propose tomorrow.”
“She is helping Leo.”
“And helping you.”
“I don’t need help.”
Dean stared at me.
“You almost murdered three people because a doctor gave Leo forty-eight hours.”
“They deserved consideration.”
“You see?”
I poured a drink.
Dean sat opposite me.
“What happens when Leo doesn’t need her anymore?”
I didn’t answer.
The question was answered two days later.
Hannah entered my office carrying a suitcase.
I stood.
“What is that?”
“My suitcase.”
“I can see that.”
“I’m leaving.”
“No.”
She blinked.
“No?”
I realized how that sounded.
“I mean—why?”
“Leo is stable.”
“He still needs monitoring.”
“He has doctors.”
“He needs someone he trusts.”
“He trusts you.”
I laughed bitterly.
“Hannah.”
“I’m serious.”
She set the suitcase down.
“You hold him now.”
“That doesn’t make me qualified.”
“You walk around with him at three in the morning.”
“He wakes me.”
“You sing to him.”
“I do not sing.”
“You absolutely sing.”
I lowered my voice.
“No one needs to know about that.”
She smiled.
Then became serious.
“I can’t stay because Leo needs me.”
“Why not?”
“Because eventually he won’t.”
I understood.
“And then?”
“Then I become the woman who lost her daughter and borrowed someone else’s baby because she couldn’t let go.”
“That is not what happened.”
“It could become that.”
I walked toward her.
“What do you want?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s allowed.”
“Not in your world.”
“My world nearly killed my wife and son.”
I looked around the office.
“I’m beginning to think my world has been wrong about several things.”
Hannah studied me.
“I need time.”
“Take it.”
“I need somewhere else to live.”
“I’ll arrange—”
“No.”
I stopped.
“Right. No money.”
“I didn't say that.”
“You usually do.”
She smiled.
“I found an apartment.”
I hated that.
But I nodded.
“When are you leaving?”
“Tonight.”
My chest tightened.
“Leo should say goodbye.”
“He’s four months old.”
“He has strong opinions.”
Hannah laughed.
We went upstairs.
She held Leo one final time before placing him into my arms.
“Take care of your father,” she whispered to him. “He’s difficult.”
“I’m standing here.”
“I know.”
Leo grabbed her finger.
Hannah froze.
For a second, I thought she would change her mind.
She didn’t.
She kissed his forehead.
Then looked at me.
“Goodbye, Adrian.”
I wanted to tell her to stay.
Instead, I said the one thing she had taught me mattered more than control.
“Goodbye, Hannah.”
May you like
She walked out.
And I let her.
