Chapter 18 - A PROMISE KEPTTwo weeks later, the municipal hospital’s pediatric ward looked entirely different.
Gone were the sterile, hopeless expressions and the false diagnoses of degenerative paralysis. Thanks to the cryogenic samples we retrieved from the bunker, over a dozen children who had been quietly poisoned by Vance’s operatives were now undergoing successful reversal therapy under my direct supervision.
One by one, under the warm afternoon sun in the hospital courtyard, kids who hadn't stood on their own two feet in years were taking their first shaky, triumphant steps.
And standing by the courtyard entrance, watching with a quiet, genuine smile, was Ethan Caldwell.
Noah ran over to his father, holding a soccer ball proudly under his arm. “Dad, look! Maya walked all the way across the grass today without her crutches!”
Ethan looked down at his son, ruffled his hair proudly, and then looked up across the lawn to where I was packing up my medical clipboard.
He walked over, his tall frame cutting a comforting, steady presence beside me.
“You’ve turned half my syndicate-funded security estate into a rehabilitation clinic,” Ethan teased lightly, a warm, genuine smile touching the corners of his mouth.
“Somebody has to keep you soft, Caldwell,” I retorted, slipping my pen into my pocket.
Ethan reached out, gently catching my hand in his. His grip was warm, strong, and entirely steady.
“I was wondering,” Ethan said quietly, his dark eyes locking onto mine with an intensity that made my heart skip a beat, “now that the bunker is gone, the syndicate is buried, and the kids are walking... do you think you could find time in your very busy schedule for dinner? Just the two of us.”
May you like
I looked down at our joined hands, then back up at his face, where the hardened mafia kingpin had completely given way to a man ready for a brand new beginning.
“I think,” I smiled softly, “that can be arranged.”
