Chapter 172

"It’s difficult to say what’s going to happen," the doctor told Ariston when he went to ask for more details about his son’s condition. "Of course, there have been terrific strides made in the care of premature babies. But I don’t like to give any promises at this stage, because premature infants’ immune systems aren’t fully developed and neither are their lungs. It’s very easy for them to catch an infection and have it become serious. "

Ariston nodded, his throat tight. He’d just tried to promise Lucette it was going to be okay. But she was right: he couldn’t promise anything. And he didn’t know if their marriage, fragile as it was, would survive this.

He stood outside the neonatal ICU and watched his impossibly small son flail with tiny red fists. He was covered in tubes to help him breathe, eat, and live. It made Ariston ache with fierce love—and a desperate fear.

Eventually, he went back to see Lucette . She was awake in bed, and while the sight of her lifted his spirits, the