At that moment, I meant every word.
Part 4 — Three Days Later
For the next three days, my life changed completely.
The doctors talked to us about Hope’s condition and what treatment could involve.
That was the name I began calling her.
Hope.
Because after everything that had happened, I needed her name to mean something.
Melissa was devastated and barely able to speak to Ryan.
Ryan had vanished emotionally after leaving the hospital.
Meanwhile, I went home with a recovering body, a newborn schedule, and more questions than answers.
Three days after the birth, Ryan finally showed up at my house.
Hope was asleep in a bassinet near the window.
Gabriel was down the hall in his room beneath his favorite dinosaur blanket.
I stood in the kitchen wearing sweatpants, my hair pulled into a messy knot, surviving on almost no sleep.
Ryan still looked as though he hadn’t recovered from the hospital.
