Chapter 5 - THE THAW
The next three days were a trial of patience and humility. Claire remained in the hospital for recovery, and Adrian spent every moment either by her side or in the NICU, watching the babies. He had to learn how to exist in a world where his net worth meant nothing. He was just another father in a chair, worried about oxygen levels and feeding schedules.
He didn't wear his watch. He didn't check his phone. He let his legal team handle the business, firing off short, firm emails that he was unavailable indefinitely.
On the fourth day, Claire was finally able to sit up and talk for more than a few minutes.
"You're still here," she noted, looking at him as he read a medical pamphlet on NICU care.
"I told you I wasn't leaving," Adrian said, setting the pamphlet down.
"Why?"
"Because for seven months, I was a man living a life that didn't have any meaning. I spent every day focusing on the next deal, the next acquisition, the next victory. And when I went home at night, the house was empty. I thought I liked it that way. I thought I wanted the quiet."
He stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the city. "But it wasn't quiet, Claire. It was deafening. Every time I looked at the kitchen, I saw you. Every time I went to the office, I saw the empty space where I should have been calling you. I thought I was fixing us by being successful, but all I was doing was building a mausoleum for the man I used to be."
Claire watched him, her eyes searching for the truth. "And if the babies hadn't been triplets? If it hadn't been an emergency? Would you have ever come back?"
Adrian turned to look at her. "I don't know. And that scares me more than anything. I think I would have eventually come back, but I don't know if I would have been in time to save us. I think I would have ended up a man who had everything except the only people who mattered."
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"We're not 'us' yet, Adrian," she said softly. "We're two people who survived a disaster."
"I'll take 'survivors,'" he said. "For now, survivors is enough."
