In the ambulance, she holds my hand like she’s afraid to let go. Like she’s afraid this is another dream.
I don’t let go either. Not even for a second.
When they get her settled, I pull out my phone. My hands are still shaking as I call Maddison.
She answers on the first ring. “Nathan?”
“I found her,” I say, and my voice finally breaks. “I found Ivy.”
There’s a sound on the other end—like she stopped breathing. Then, “Oh, my God,” she whispers.
“I’m in the ambulance with her,” I say. “She’s okay. She’s really okay.”
Maddi starts crying.
So do I.
Chapter 45
Nathan
Hospitals have a way of making time feel unreal.
Ivy sits on the bed in a thin paper gown, her feet not quite reaching the floor, swinging a little as if she doesn’t know what to do with them. A nurse gave her apple juice, a blanket, and a stuffed bear she hasn’t let go of since.
She’s still holding my hand. Like if she lets go, I might disappear.
I’m still afraid this is a dream.
Every few seconds, I look at her face just to make sure she’s still there. Her hair is longer. A little tangled. There’s a faint bruise on her shin that makes my chest ache. But she’s breathing. She’s warm. She’s here.
A doctor will be in soon, they told me. Soon feels like a lifetime.
The door opens. I look up, expecting a white coat.
It’s not.
It’s Maddison.
She’s standing in the doorway like she’s forgotten how to move. Like her brain is still trying to catch up to what her eyes are seeing.
“Ivy?” she whispers.
Ivy’s head snaps up. For half a second, she just stares. Then— “Mommy!” She launches herself off the bed and into Maddison’s arms.
Maddison drops to her knees to catch her, crushing her against her chest like she’s afraid someone might try to take her again.
They’re both crying.
Ivy’s face buries in her mother’s neck. Maddison’s hands in Ivy’s hair, her back, her shoulders—everywhere at once.
“Oh, my God,” Maddison keeps saying. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…”
I don’t remember standing up. I’m just there watching the two of them hold each other like the world almost ended and somehow didn’t.
Ivy pulls back first, cups Maddison’s face in her small hands like she needs to make sure she’s real. “I thought you were gone,” she says, her voice breaking.
Maddison shakes her head fiercely. “Never. Never. I was always looking for you. Always.”
