Chapter 10 - Spring Sunshine
Six months later, the clinic was flooded with spring light.
The court had finalized all paperwork: Noah's birth certificate was restored, his name bore mine, and the Hayes family empire had crumbled under federal investigations into healthcare fraud and felony abuse. Michael and Marcus were serving consecutive prison sentences, while Evelyn had been forced to liquidate her assets under civil damages awarded entirely to a trust for Noah.
Noah ran through the clinic waiting room, his leg fully healed, carrying a bright green watering can. He was laughing, his cheeks flushed with healthy color, shouting as he chased my clinic cat around the reception desk.
"Noah, remember to water the lilies by the window!" I called from my office.
"I got it, Mom!" he yelled back, beaming.
He poured water carefully onto the potted plants, humming a song he had learned in kindergarten that week. When he finished, he didn't check the floor for spills with terror; he simply wiped a rogue drop with his sleeve and ran to my desk to give me a drawing of our little brick building under a giant yellow sun.
"Is it good?" he asked, leaning against my arm.
May you like
"It's perfect," I told him, pinning it right to the center of the wall.
He hugged my waist tightly, safe in the only clinic where love never cost a single cent.
