"I thought you were waiting outside," I say.
"Changed my mind."
He doesn't say anything else, just sits there while I cry. His hand finds mine, and our fingers lace together.
"I can do this," I say again. "I can go back to nursing, I can save lives, I can..."
"You already saved lives today. Emma, Chase, Sofia. They all needed you, and you were there."
"I was terrified the whole time."
"Doesn't matter, you did it anyway."
I turn to look at him and find him already watching me, his eyes full of something that makes my chest ache. There's so much love there, so much pride and yearning and fear all mixed together. He looks at me like I hung the moon, like I'm the bravest person he's ever known, and I want to kiss him so badly it hurts.
"Jackson..."
"I know." His thumb traces circles on the back of my hand. "I know."
We sit in the quiet chapel, both of us exhausted, both of us emotionally wrung out, holding hands like teenagers afraid to let go. But something's shifted, something fundamental.
I'm not broken anymore. I'm healing, and today proved I can do the work I was meant to do.
Even if it terrifies me. Even if I never stop thinking about Lily.
I can do this.
I can save lives.
33
JACKSON
Sofia's been in the NICU for four days when my lawyer calls with news, and I'm in the hospital cafeteria with my fourth cup of coffee in hand, exhausted from splitting time between the NICU and trying to figure out what's left of my career.
"Carson's dropping the assault charges."
"What?"
"He's dropping them. His lawyer called this morning. They're not pursuing criminal charges against you."
"Why?"
"Because three other women officially came forward." Papers shuffle in the background. "Two nurses from Pinewood, one from a hospital in Boston where he worked before. All with similar stories: sexual harassment, assault, rape. One of them has security footage, another has text messages where Carson basically admits to it."
My grip tightens on the phone. Three more women. Three more lives he destroyed while the hospital looked the other way.
"Three more women."
"Three that we know of, could be more. The hospital's conducting a full investigation now, and Carson's been suspended without pay. And the prosecutor offered him a deal: plead guilty to sexual assault, accept prison time, or face trial with all four women testifying against him."
"He took the deal?"
"His lawyer advised it. With this much evidence, a jury would destroy him. He pleads guilty, gets five to seven years, and registers as a sex offender. It's the best outcome he's going to get."
Five to seven years. Not enough, not nearly enough for what he did to Maya, to those other women.
But it's something.
