Chapter 5 - The Hand I Hadn't Held in Years

A few minutes later we walked into the clinic. Nora was sitting up in a bed, wrung out but smiling weakly. The second she saw us, she started crying.

"I'm sorry."

I crossed the room in two steps and pulled her into my arms. "You never have to apologize for this. Not ever."

She held on tight. "I got so scared."

"I know."

Mark kissed the top of her head. "We're just glad you're here."

Ethan stood by the window, quiet. His clothes were still soaked. His hands were shaking.

I went over to him. He searched my face. I searched his. Then I hugged him, as hard as I'd hugged my own daughter.

"I'm sorry," I said.

He looked confused. "For what?"

"For about one minute out there..." I swallowed. "I thought you were taking her away from us."

He shook his head. "I'd have thought the same thing."

I laughed through the tears. "Thank you. You saved my little girl."

He gave an awkward smile. Then Diane crossed the room and folded her son into her arms. Paul wiped quickly at his eyes and pretended he hadn't.

The next morning we walked back down the same beach. The water was calm again, like the whole thing had never happened.

Nora slipped her hand into mine. She hadn't done that in years. I closed my fingers around it. Neither of us let go.

After a while she looked up at me. "Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"I know you worry."

"I do."

She smiled. "But I know why now."

My eyes stung. "I'll probably never stop."

"I don't want you to."

She leaned her head against my shoulder for a second. Then she looked out at the water. "I think we should come back next summer."

"I'd like that," I said.

As we walked, I looked back toward Harbor Point Clinic. The white building sat quietly against the rocks, almost hidden from the resort. Most guests never noticed it at all. We almost hadn't.

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Strange, how the place that saved my daughter's life had been sitting in plain view the whole time. So had the lesson.

Letting your child grow up doesn't mean you worry less. It means trusting that sometimes the person they choose to stand next to will protect them when you no longer can.