novelnext Chapter 16
Chapter 16
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the rehabilitation center at Central Hospital. Ethan Smith was helping Grace Sullivan practice walking while their daughter, Emily Smith, worked on her upper-body exercises nearby.
"Dad, look! I can do ten reps now!" Emily called out excitedly.
Ethan was about to respond when his phone buzzed in his pocket. An unknown number flashed on the screen.
"Hello, Mr. Smith?" A woman’s unfamiliar voice came through. "There are two patients in the inpatient ward claiming to be old acquaintances of yours. Could you come down for a moment?"
Ethan frowned. After hanging up, he leaned close to Grace and murmured, "I’ll be right back. Just need to check on something in the inpatient ward."
The sharp scent of antiseptic filled the fifth-floor hallway. Following the nurse’s directions, Ethan pushed open the door to Room 307.
The blue privacy curtain was half-drawn. Two figures sat on the beds—faces he recognized instantly, freezing him in place.
"Ethan..." Sophia Sinclair’s voice trembled.
Luna Smith leapt from the bed, barefoot, and threw herself at him. "Daddy!"
Ethan instinctively took half a step back. The mother and daughter before him looked worn and haggard, their clothes shabby—nothing like the polished figures from his memories.
"Why are you here?" His voice was ice-cold.
Sophia’s fingers clenched the bedsheet. "We’ve been searching for you for three years..."
"Daddy!" Luna clung to his leg, tears soaking his pant leg. "I was wrong—please don’t leave me!"
Whispers rose from the other patients in the room. Someone muttered, "How heartless..."
Expressionless, Ethan pried Luna’s hands away. "Ms. Sinclair, have some dignity. My wife and child are waiting for me downstairs."
Sophia paled. "You... really got married?"
"Three years ago." As he turned to leave, his gaze caught the familiar wedding ring on Sophia’s finger—the one he’d given her in that other timeline.
He didn’t look back. Behind him, Luna’s anguished sobs echoed. "Daddy! Please—!"
Out in the hallway, Ethan pulled out his phone and dialed security. "There’s a disturbance in Room 307. Handle it."
Hanging up, he took a deep breath. By the time the elevator doors opened, his face had softened back into a gentle smile—Grace and Emily were waiting.
As for those two? Just ghosts from a nightmare long past.