The elevator doors closed.

“Jesus, Angie.” Mattie leaned down to look at my ankle. It was throbbing and I was queasy with pain. “It must be twice the size it should be. Why the hell didn’t they do something sooner?”

“It’s fine,” I said, swallowing hard. “It doesn’t even matter. The only thing that matters now is that Violet wakes up. Will saved her life, Mattie… now we just need her to come back to us.”

Mattie knelt down and took my hands. “Are you going to tell him he’s a father?” she asked.

I swallowed again. “I already told you, I don’t know for sure,” I answered. “But if any man ever earned the right to be a father, it’s Will,” I said. “You were there, you saw what he did for her…”

“I saw,” she said, sagely. “I see a lot of things… but that isn’t what I meant…”

The elevator door swept open and Patty pushed me over the threshold with a clatter. ‘You’ll have to wait out here, ma’am,” she said to Mattie. Mattie raised a challenging eyebrow, but stayed silent. It wasn’t the word wait, I knew, it was the ma’am… For the first time in a long time, I smiled.

“Angelina?” Dr. Chapin came into the room with a smile.

“Is it Violet?” I started to stand and cringed in pain. “Is she all right?”

“She’s just fine,” he said soothingly. “They’ll call me with any changes. I just wanted to check on you down here, to make sure you get the royal treatment.” He smiled warmly. “I’ve known Will for most of my life,” he said. “He’d never forgive me if I let anything happen to you.”

“Dr. Chapin…”

“Harry, please.” He smiled at me as the tech helped me up onto a rigid platform and put a pillow under my neck. She moved with the confidence of practice, turning up my pant leg and positioning my foot, but I gasped with even the slightest movement.

“Tell me the truth, Harry.” I waited as he gestured for the tech to leave us alone. “Violet’s always lived in a world all her own. I know you say there’s no reason for her not to wake up, but what if she just… doesn’t? What if she just stays in that private place we’ve been trying so hard to draw her out of? What if she’s gone somewhere we can’t ever find her again…?”

He sat down next to me and took my hands. He looked at me long and hard before he answered, as if he was weighing his words.

“There aren’t ever any promises in life, Angelina,” he said, gently. “But if I ever saw a little girl with a reason to live, it’s Violet.” He licked his lips and exhaled. “She has you and she has Will, and I never saw two people more devoted to a child.” He nodded, thinking. “Will came to me,” he admitted, “wanting to know if there was a chance he could be a father again. He told you about the accident?…”

It was my turn to nod.

“He looked for you for years, Angelina, desperate to find you. I never saw a man so compelled… never heard a man speak so highly of any woman… He called you his turning point.”

“I didn’t even think he saw me, way back then,” I said. “He was so much older, and I felt so invisible…”

“He more than saw, my dear. And he never forgot, either.” He picked up my hand and turned my ring to the light. “You said yes, I see.” And his face lit up. “He’s been imagining this, desperate for this for so long… For you… and for fatherhood…”

“Harry,” I gripped his hands as the tech came back into the room, rustling impatiently. “I don’t know if he’s Violet’s father… but I think he might be… Maybe it doesn’t really even matter. I know it doesn’t to me.” I swallowed and lowered my voice to a whisper. “I can’t bear the idea of his disappointment if a test proved that he wasn’t. Can you put his name on the birth certificate anyway… without a test?” I asked. “Then he would always be her father… no matter what.”

He patted my hand in a fatherly way. “As long as no one else is named, you can put down any name you like.” His eyes shined, pleased. “All the father has to do in order to make it legal is to sign… and I know for a fact that nothing would make him happier.”

I put my head back with a sigh. In spite of everything, a sense of peace washed over me and I knew I’d made the right decision. If Violet woke up…. When Violet woke up, it would be to two parents who loved her, and a real family of her own. The tech cleared her throat and Harry stood up.

“I’ll let you get on…,” he said, moving toward the door, a twinkle in his eye. “And I’ll let you be the one to tell Will,” he said. He turned toward the tech. “No, not that one…” He took off the small, heavy drape the tech had put over my lap. “Use the full lead apron…” He turned back to me with a friendly smile. “Can’t be too careful,” he said lightly.

“I’ll meet you back in Violet’s room when you’re all done,” he said, with a smile. “And we’ll break the happy news…”

I fidgeted and squirmed as the ortho tech took his sweet time applying the splint. The break was simple, but the swelling made it impossible to apply a cast, at least for now…

“Angel… thank God.” I looked up to see Will’s face in the doorway. Two steps more and he was beside me.

“What is it? Why did you leave her… what’s wrong…?”

“Nothing, sweetheart.” He took my hands and brought them up to his lips. It suddenly felt like forever since we’d last touched. “Nothing’s wrong. She moved her fingers, baby. Right after you left… I turned around and her fingers were moving…”

“Finish it,” I barked irritably at the startled tech. “I don’t care if you’re done. Our baby is upstairs and we’re going to be there when she wakes up.” He stared for a minute, but picked up his pace.

“She responded to the music,” Will said, kissing me between words. “And she’s reaching out, the only way she knows how…”

“She’s reaching for her daddy,” I answered back, tasting my tears on our lips. “You’re the one who saw beneath the surface all along… and something inside her knew that. Now she’s reaching back…”

The tech finished up without making a sound and disappeared discreetly. Will looked at the waiting wheelchair, but picked me up in his arms instead. “I love you, Angel. With all my heart and soul, I will love you for the rest of my life.” His rock-hard chest and arms radiated heat and security. A warm, liquid wave of pleasure ran through my body as I rested my head against him… A hundred years… a thousand years like this would never be enough…

And I realized how wonderful it felt to lean on him. To lean into his strength and his safety. To give up the control I’d held onto so long and so alone. “And I love you, Will… more than I ever thought possible,” I said, clinging to him, wrapping my arms around his neck as he took the stairs two at a time. “I belong to you,” I said. “Me… and Violet, too.” He stopped long enough to kiss me hard. “We belong to you… and you belong to us…”

“She’s turned her head,” Mattie said, her eyes huge with excitement. She stepped aside and let Will put me down on the edge of the bed. “Her eyes are moving underneath the lids… like she’s dreaming…”

“Violet, baby,” I said, softly. “It’s Mama… Open your eyes and look at me, sweetie. Please, baby… just open up your eyes.” I looked across the bed, over her little body at Will. “Daddy’s here, too, honey. Remember when you played the piano with him…?” I saw movement under the lids. “Miri wants to see you, too, baby…” I looked at Mattie for reassurance and she nodded fast. “She’s okay, too, and she wants you to play with her on the beach. We’ll go back and collect seashells…” Tears were starting to flow freely now and they dripped on the bedsheets, forming a dark, spreading stain. “It’s not just us anymore, Violet. Your daddy’s here, too, and he loves you as much as I do. We’re a real family now…” I looked up into his face and saw the depth of emotion in his eyes. “I know you can hear me…,” I whispered. “I can feel you… just under here.” I put my hand on her heart and closed my eyes. “I can feel you beating inside me, too… finding your way…”

“Angel…,” Will said, with a soft intake of breath. “Look…”

And I opened my eyes to hers. They were a dark, soft blue, the color of the sky, the color of the ocean on a cloudy day. I felt her tiny fingers, moving on my arm, playing music only she could hear…

And the waves came crashing down around me. Love and relief, elation and exhaustion. It all crested in a wave that was so much bigger than I could bear. I saw Will’s face as he caught me… then everything dissolved in a dark, cloudy mist. I could feel the smile on my face, the happiness in my heart…

Awake or asleep, I knew in that moment, I had everything I ever wanted…