The apartment was quiet.
Not completely silent.
Just peaceful.
The kind of peaceful that came at the end of a long day.
A children's cartoon played softly from the television.
The dishwasher hummed in the kitchen.
And Elena sat cross-legged on the living room rug, surrounded by crayons and paper.
Her stuffed bunny sat beside her like an assistant.
Lillian was folding laundry on the couch.
Tiny shirts.
Tiny socks.
Tiny pajamas.
Most of what she folded belonged to Elena.
The sight always made her smile.
It had been a strange few days.
Everything felt different.
Changed.
As though the entire world had shifted slightly beneath her feet.
Sebastian knew the truth now.
He knew about Elena.
He knew she was his daughter.
And Elena knew about him.
Not everything.
Not yet.
But enough.
Enough to understand that Sebastian wasn't just a stranger.
Enough to call him Daddy.
The thought still felt surreal.
Lillian folded another shirt.
Then another.
Trying not to think too much.
Trying not to imagine what came next.
Her phone vibrated on the coffee table.
She glanced over automatically.
Expecting maybe a message from her parents.
Or Chloe.
The moment she saw Chloe's name, something tightened in her chest.
She wasn't sure why.
Maybe instinct.
Maybe fear.
She reached for her phone.
Unlocked it.
Opened the message.
And froze.
Sebastian collapsed at work.
He had a seizure.The ambulance took him to the hospital.
They're treating him now.
For a moment Lillian couldn't breathe.
The words blurred.
She blinked.
Read them again.
Then again.
And again.
As if they might somehow become different.
As if she had misunderstood.
A seizure.
Not dizziness.
Not exhaustion.
Not another nosebleed.
A seizure.
Her grip tightened around the phone.
The laundry slipped from her lap unnoticed.
Her heartbeat thundered inside her ears.
Across the room, Ellie looked up.
"Mommy?"
Lillian didn't answer.
Her mind was racing.
A seizure.
He had collapsed.
He was in the hospital.
Again.
The image of Sebastian sitting on her couch flashed through her mind.
The nosebleed.
The exhaustion.
The trembling in his hands.
The way he'd looked when he learned the truth.
And suddenly she realized something terrifying.
He wasn't getting better.
He was getting worse.
"Mommy?"
Ellie stood up.
This time her voice pulled Lillian back to reality.
Lillian looked up quickly.
Ellie was staring at her.
Concern written all over her tiny face.
"What's wrong?"
Lillian swallowed.
"I'm okay."
The lie came automatically.
Neither of them believed it.
Ellie walked closer.
"You look sad."
Lillian's chest tightened painfully.
Sometimes children noticed things adults tried desperately to hide.
And Ellie always noticed.
Lillian reached out and gently brushed blonde hair from her daughter's face.
"I'm okay, sweetheart."
Ellie frowned.
"No."
A simple answer.
Completely honest.
Lillian almost laughed.
Almost cried.
Instead she stood up.
"I need to make a phone call."
Ellie nodded.
"Okay."
Lillian immediately called Chloe.
The phone rang once.
Twice.
Then Chloe answered.
"Lillian."
The worry in Chloe's voice immediately made everything worse.
"How bad is it?"
No greeting.
No small talk.
Just the question.
A brief silence followed.
Then Chloe sighed.
"He collapsed in his office."
Lillian closed her eyes.
"Is he awake?"
"I don't know."
The answer hit hard.
"What happened?"
"I saw him fall."
Chloe's voice shook slightly.
"He had a seizure."
Lillian gripped the edge of the kitchen counter.
"A seizure?"
"Yes."
The confirmation felt unreal.
"The paramedics got there quickly."
Another pause.
"They took him straight to the hospital."
Lillian lowered her head.
The fear she'd been trying to ignore finally settled in her chest.
Heavy.
Real.
Because this wasn't just Sebastian refusing to rest.
This wasn't another argument with doctors.
This wasn't him being stubborn.
This was his body failing.
"I'll text you the hospital room when I know more."
Chloe said softly.
"Okay."
"Lillian..."
"Yeah?"
A pause.
"He looked really bad."
The words shattered something inside her.
Because Chloe wasn't someone who panicked easily.
If Chloe was worried—
Then things were serious.
Very serious.
After the call ended, Lillian remained standing in the kitchen.
Staring at nothing.
Trying to think.
Trying not to panic.
Trying and failing.
Memories kept surfacing.
The bar.
Finding him drunk.
The hospital.
His nose bleeding in her apartment.
The way he'd looked at Ellie.
The tear that escaped when he learned she was his daughter.
Three years.
He'd lost three years.
And now—
A horrible thought entered her mind.
What if he lost everything else too?
The possibility made her feel sick.
A small tug on her sleeve interrupted her thoughts.
Elena.
Looking up at her.
Big blue eyes.
Sebastian's eyes.
"Mommy?"
Lillian knelt immediately.
"What is it, sweetheart?"
Ellie hugged her bunny tighter.
"I heard his name."
Lillian froze.
"Whose name?"
"Daddy."
The word hit harder than expected.
Daddy.
Not Sebastian.
Not the sick man.
Daddy.
Ellie shifted nervously.
"Is Daddy sick?"
Lillian felt tears sting her eyes.
Because how was she supposed to answer that?
How did you explain something like this to a three-year-old?
She couldn't lie.
Not anymore.
So she nodded.
"Yes."
Ellie looked down.
Her fingers tightened around her bunny.
"Very sick?"
Lillian's throat tightened.
The honest answer terrified her.
Instead she reached out and gently rubbed Ellie's back.
"The doctors are helping him."
It wasn't really an answer.
But it was the only one she could give.
Ellie thought about that.
Then asked the question Lillian feared most.
"Will he be okay?"
Silence.
A terrible silence.
Because Lillian didn't know.
She genuinely didn't know.
And that uncertainty scared her more than anything.
After a moment she managed:
"The doctors are doing everything they can."
Ellie accepted that.
Not because she fully understood.
But because she trusted her mother.
A few minutes later Lillian called her parents.
Her father answered immediately.
"Lillian?"
The moment he heard her voice, Thomas knew something was wrong.
"What happened?"
Lillian took a shaky breath.
"Sebastian collapsed."
Silence.
Then:
"What?"
"He had a seizure."
The words sounded just as awful the second time.
Her mother appeared on speaker immediately.
"Lillian?"
"He's in the hospital."
Neither parent spoke for a moment.
Then Thomas said:
"We're coming over."
"Dad—."
"We're coming over."
No hesitation.
No discussion.
Just certainty.
Lillian closed her eyes.
"Okay."
"We'll be there soon."
The call ended.
Twenty minutes later the doorbell rang.
Thomas and Caroline entered immediately.
One look at their daughter told them everything.
Caroline pulled Lillian into a hug without a word.
And Lillian nearly broke apart.
Meanwhile Ellie ran toward her grandparents.
"Grandma!"
"Hello, sweetheart."
Thomas looked toward Lillian.
"You should go."
Lillian hesitated.
"What about—."
"We've got her."
Caroline nodded.
"Go."
Just one word.
But it was enough.
Because they both knew exactly where she wanted to be.
And exactly why.
Half an hour later Lillian was driving through New York traffic.
The city lights blurred beyond the windshield.
Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly.
Too tightly.
The hospital grew closer with every mile.
But her thoughts remained trapped elsewhere.
On Sebastian.
On Ellie.
On the future they had barely begun figuring out.
And one terrible question refused to leave her alone.
What if Sebastian died before he got the chance to be her father?
The thought followed her all the way to the hospital.
She parked.
Got out.
And practically ran inside.
The bright lights hit her immediately.
The familiar smell.
The sound of distant monitors.
The crowded waiting area.
"Lillian?"
She turned.
And saw Chloe standing near the elevators.
Waiting.
The moment their eyes met, Lillian knew.
This wasn't a routine hospital visit.
This was serious.
Very serious.
And suddenly she wasn't sure she wanted to hear what came next.