CHAPTER 10: The Touch of a Mother
Gabriel supported Eleanor as they walked slowly down the private elevator and out into the crisp autumn air. The breeze carried the scent of pine and fallen leaves, a sensory freedom Eleanor had been denied for over a thousand days.
When they reached the SUV, the rear door opened. Clara stepped aside, holding Lily by the hand.
Lily stood frozen on the gravel, her small fingers clutching her plush rabbit. She looked from Gabriel to the woman standing before her, her eyes scanning the familiar softness of Eleanor's face.
"Lily..." Eleanor dropped to her knees on the damp gravel, disregarding the cold, opening her arms wide. "My sweet, beautiful Lily."
For three heartbeats, the world seemed to stop spinning. Then, with a cry that shattered the silence of the woods, Lily broke into a run, throwing her little arms around Eleanor’s neck. Eleanor wrapped her daughter in an embrace so fierce it seemed as though nothing in heaven or earth could ever separate them again.
"Mommy's here," Eleanor sobbed into Lily's blonde hair. "I'm so sorry, baby. Mommy never left you. I was always thinking of you."
"The lady in the wall," Lily whispered, her small hands stroking Eleanor's cheeks. "I knew it was you. I told Daddy."
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Gabriel walked over and knelt beside them, wrapping his arms around both his wife and daughter. Standing nearby, Clara wiped a tear from her eye, turning her head toward the road as a convoy of federal vehicles finally pulled into the driveway to seize the clinic's records.
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