“Tell me what?”
Margaret sat down.
“After the accident, your daughter was brought here. She was unconscious, and the doctors worked desperately to save her.”
I closed my eyes.
I knew that much.
But then Margaret continued.
“Your husband had already passed away when the ambulance arrived. You were taken into emergency surgery. And while you were unconscious, Daniel stayed with your daughter.”
“Why?”
“Because he was the stranger who had helped the paramedics at the accident scene. He followed the ambulance after they took you away.”
I stared at her.
Margaret reached into a drawer and removed an old folder.
“There is something else you should know.”
She opened it carefully.
Inside were several documents and a handwritten note.
“Your daughter had a little bracelet with her name on it. Daniel found it near the accident scene. He brought it here because he wanted to make sure it was returned to you.”
I began crying.
“Then why didn’t he give it to me?”
Margaret hesitated.
“Because something happened that night.”
She turned another page.
“Before your daughter passed away, she briefly regained consciousness.”
My entire body went still.
“What?”
Margaret’s eyes filled with tears.
“She asked for her mommy.”
I covered my mouth.
“She was frightened. Daniel held her little hand and told her that her mommy was going to be okay.”
I couldn’t stop crying.
Margaret gently continued.
“And then Emma said something.”
“What did she say?”
Margaret looked directly into my eyes.
“She told Daniel to give her little rabbit to her mommy.”
I remembered that rabbit.
The little brown stuffed animal Emma carried everywhere.
Margaret opened the folder again.
“Daniel kept it. He said he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away.”
I looked at the photograph.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
The rabbit.
The photograph.
The man who had held my hand during the worst night of my life.
But Margaret wasn’t finished.
She reached into the folder and pulled out a sealed envelope.
“This was delivered to the hospital a few months ago. Daniel asked me to keep it safe until you returned.”
I recognized the handwriting immediately.
Daniel.
But the envelope wasn’t addressed to me.
It was addressed to:
LILY — TO BE OPENED WITH HER MOTHER.
I carefully broke the seal.
Inside was a letter and a document.
The letter began:
My sweet Lily,
There is something about your mother that I never had the courage to explain.
You have always believed that I found Sarah by accident. But the truth is that I spent years hoping I would see her again.
