Chapter 86: The Ex-Husband
Xavier stayed at the hospital for about an hour. He spent nearly half of it talking with Claire, his voice light and full of warmth. The other half, he sat with Cassidy while Claire was resting, their quiet conversation filling the room with a kind of ease Zeke couldn’t bring himself to interrupt.
Zeke couldn’t stand watching Xavier share those moments with Claire and Cassidy. But what could he do? The bond they had with Xavier ran far deeper than what he had with either of them.
After Xavier left, Raymond entered Claire’s room.
Cassidy was startled to see him, and Raymond, in turn, froze the moment he saw Zeke, Cassidy’s ex-husband. The tension in the room shifted instantly. More than that, Zeke’s presence seemed to confirm what Raymond had quietly suspected.
Claire was his. His daughter with Cassidy.
Raymond walked over to Cassidy, his voice low but firm. "I just heard about Claire from Georgia. Why didn’t you tell us?"
Cassidy exhaled slowly. "I didn’t want to burden anyone. Especially not with Mom still unconscious. There was already enough to worry about."
She glanced at Claire, who was still resting peacefully. "But now Mom’s awake. Claire’s awake. That’s good."
Raymond stepped closer to the bed, his eyes never leaving Claire. "How is she doing?"
Cassidy replied calmly, "They’re keeping a close eye on her. Watching for signs of infection, pain, and how her stomach’s handling things."
She looked at Claire briefly. "They’ve started giving her food little by little. Just liquids for now. Then soft food, and eventually solid if she keeps improving."