“I’ll try. And I’ll stop procrastinating and open this thing. I’ll text you the result.”
“No need. I already know what it is. And so do you. But if there’s some crazy twist and it comes back negative, I’ll help you smuggle them out of the country.”
I laughed, a real, genuine one. “Okay. I’ll remember that.”
We said goodbye, and I ended the call, my focus returning to the screen. I took a deep, steadying breath and clicked on the attached file.
There it was. The result was exactly what I had expected.
Still, I couldn’t stop the tears that welled in my eyes.
Chapter fifteen
LOGAN
The next day, I was once again the first one awake in the house.
When I’d arrived the night before, the girls were already asleep, and now I was leaving for the hospital before they even stirred. It was a pattern that went directly against the promise I’d made to myself not to be like my father.
Maybe I was just a coward.
A few hours after arriving at the hospital, I made my routine stop at the Holloways' offices, starting with John’s. I found Carol there, too.
“Dr. Turner, I’m so glad we caught you,” Carol said with a warm smile. “We just spoke with Miss Garcia and the girls this morning. We needed to let you know about a change of plans.”
“A change?” I asked, immediately concerned. “Is everything alright?”
“Just a slight shift in our schedule,” John clarified.
Carol took over. “Our middle daughter, who lives in London, had a last-minute work commitment that will keep her there until December 23rd. She won’t be able to join us for Christmas as we’d planned.”
John continued, “We spoke with our other two children, and we’ve all decided to go to London instead. We’re even starting our hospital break early. Being together as a family is the most important thing, especially during the holidays.”
“Oh, of course. I understand completely. Please, don’t worry about us. I’m sure the hotel we originally looked at still has rooms.”
“Absolutely not!” Carol insisted. “We won’t hear of it. You must stay here.”
They were so adamant that I stopped protesting and simply thanked them. I said my goodbyes, as they had an early morning flight, and I likely wouldn’t see them again.
I stayed at the hospital late into the night, as usual.
The next morning, however, perhaps from accumulated exhaustion, I overslept. I knew it wasn’t as early as usual the moment I woke up because Evelyn’s bed was already empty.
I got up, my back protesting from another night on the unforgiving floor. After a quick shower, I headed out of the room. In the living room, I found the twins sitting on the rug, playing with items from a large box. Even with the heater on, they were already wearing their coats—a clear sign they were planning to go out.
Evelyn walked in from the kitchen then, carrying a tray with two bowls of cereal and two mugs of hot chocolate. She set it down in front of the girls and said, her voice and hands moving in sync, “Don’t take too long, we need to leave early if we want to find a good one.”
Only then did I check the time, realizing it wasn’t as late as I’d thought. “You’re going out? Where to?”
Evelyn shot me a look that said my questioning was an inconvenience. Still, she replied, “The girls and I are going to buy a Christmas tree.”
“A Christmas tree? You’re going to put up a tree in someone else’s house?”
“It was John and Carol’s idea. They left out a box of decorations and specifically said we should put one up.”
I looked back at the girls and finally understood; the “toys” they were pulling from the box were actually Christmas ornaments.
“But what’s the point?” I asked. “We don’t need any of this Christmas tree thing.”
