Chapter 10 - The Unbroken Thread
The interior of the clinic was clean but spartan, echoing with the sounds of medical monitors, soft conversations in multiple languages, and the shuffling of hurried footsteps. Sunlight slanted through high windows, illuminating dust motes dancing in the warm air.
At the end of the long hallway stood a woman wearing faded surgical scrubs, her hair tied back in a loose, practical knot. She was listening through a stethoscope to a young boy’s chest, speaking softly in fluent, halting Greek to the boy's smiling mother.
David froze. The breath caught in his chest as if he had been struck. It was Clara. Thinner, her skin sun-kissed and marked with faint lines of exhaustion around her eyes, but unmistakably the woman he had loved since they were university students.
Lily took two cautious steps forward, her sneakers squeaking softly on the polished concrete.
Clara finished her examination, stepped back with a warm smile for the family, and turned toward the supply cabinet. As she turned, her eyes caught the small figure standing in the middle of the corridor.
For several seconds, the entire world seemed to halt. The stethoscope slipped from Clara's fingers, hitting the floor with a hollow click. Her gaze traveled from Lily’s face to the tall man standing just behind her in the shadows.
May you like
"David?" she whispered, her voice cracking under the impossible weight of the moment.
"Mommy?" Lily’s voice was small, but it echoed clearly down the hall.
