The private ward in Silver Falls General hospital pediatric center was too quiet, the only sounds were the soft sounds from the oxygen and the steady beep…beep…beep of the heart monitor. Dante Vance held his daughter’s tiny hand and used his thumb to trace over her small knuckles, desperate to memorize every feel, every proof that she was still here. Her skin was pale, almost the same color with the white sheets.“Daddy?” Daisy called out weakly. “When will Mommy come? I miss her so much.”The question was like a hot coal on his skin. He forced himself to smile, like he had perfected over the weeks of disappointment. “Soon, sweetheart. She is just finishing up at work. She will be here.” He said sweetly.She nodded and closed her eyes.He pulled out his phone from his pocket for the sixth time, and dialed Clara’s number again. It rang and went straight to voicemail.‘You have reached Clara Vance. Leave a message.’‘Clara, for God’s sake, where are you?’ he muttered fervently under his

The first rays of dawn was seeping through the blinds, bathing the hospital room in warmth, when Daisy’s eyes opened slowly. Dante, who had spent the night in the chair by her bed, stood up instantly. “Good morning, sunshine,” he whispered croakingly due to lack of sleep but still warm with love.Daisy looked around with sleepy eyes and her gaze landed on the nightstand. She widened her eyes in surprise when she saw the small velvet box. “Daddy? What is that?” She asked slowly.“Why don’t you see for yourself?” he said softly.She reached for it eagerly with small, careful hands and opened the lip. The delicate gold necklace with its silver ring glinted in the morning light. Her face lit up with joy that made Dante’s heart ache. “Is this…from Mommy? Did she come?”Dante placed a fake smile smile on his face. He would not poison his daughter’s love with the bitter truth. “She did. She stayed with you for a long, long time. She was only called away to the company just before the sun ca

The air in the garden was thick with the aftermath of the slap. The sound still seem to be echoing, like a lingering buzz in the silence. Daisy’s soft, heartbroken sobs was the only sound in the air, as she massaged her swollen cheek.Mason, realizing Clara might have heard more that he had intended, quickly slipped into the role of a peacemaker and murmured soothingly, “Clara, darling, it is alright. There is no need to make a fuss over a child’s tantrum. These things happen you know?”But Clara’s furious eyes were fixed on Dante, thick with misplaced loyalty, so his attempt to calm her down only poured gasoline on the fire.“A fuss?” Clara hissed angrily, then she raised her voice and snapped at her husband with disgust in her eyes. “Look at him! He is not fit to be a father! He had raised her to be exactly like him…rude, stubborn, and always ready to fight! No matter what Mason said to him, is that an excuse for her to treat someone older than her this way? Biting him? This is the

The ICU was like a hall of humming machines and beeping noises that sounded judgmental. In the middle of it all, enclosed inside the clear shell of a medical pod, lay Daisy. She was so small, so pale that she seem to be fading into the sterile white sheets. The only signs of life from her, were the faint ghostly mist of her breath, fogging the glass, and the bent, weak line that is tracing a path across the heart monitor. Each soft, mechanical hiss was like a countdown. Dante stood, towering over her, with his hands pressed against the pod’s cold surface as if he could transfer his own warmth, his own life force, through the glass. A silent cry of self blame echoed consistently in his skull, and it was so loud that he was surprised the glass did not crack. ‘This is my fault. I left her side. I failed her.’The doors swung open suddenly and Doctor Alice strode in, looking furious, which is so unlike her usual calm, professional demeanor. She did not look at him, instead, she ignored h

Mason did not bother to knock. He entered the dimly lit room silently to find Dante exactly where he knew he would be….slumped backwards in a chair beside the glass medical pod that held his daughter, looking like a ghost of his former self. “Dante,” Mason began calmly, with his voice thick with false sympathy. “Look at you. The great scientist. I heard you were once brilliant. A chief scientist. Now you are just…a watchman.”Dante did not move. He fixed his eyes on the pod and snarled, “Get out.”“I came to offer my condolences. Truly.” Mason stepped closer with his eyes fixed on the sleeping child in the pod, and sneered, “Such a pity. All that potential, gone. And for what?”“Cut the act, Mason,” Dante snapped coldly. “We are past that.”Finally, Dante turned his head to glare at Mason with his eyes reddened with pain, and seethed, “Was it not you who stole the Diathystine?” He pointed at the lifeless pod. “Now look at this. Who exactly are you trying to impress with this concerne