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Tony approached the door to her suite with a combination of anticipation and dread If only he’d find her talking and flitting around the suite as she used to; instead, he feared he’d find what he’d found the day before, and the one before that Slowly, Tony opened the door and spotted Claire on the sofa She was reading, or pretending to read Silently, he watched as her eyes drifted toward the fireplace and stared The reflection of the flames was the only spark of life he’d witnessed since she woke
Securing a smile, he opened the door further and announced his presence "Good evening, Claire," he said, as lightheartedly as he could aze , Tony Is it that late already?"
Kissing her cheek, he assessed the woman before him She was dressed impeccably with her hair and ht Obviously, you kneas tis, Claire gazed at her attire With no eht Now, I re his hand, he asked, "Won’t you join me? You’re too beautiful to keep in this suite Besides, yourooave way to an instant of panic before settling again into nothingness "Tony, I’d rather stay here, if that’s all right with you The dining rooht or even the next few It wasn’t until almost November before he convinced her to leave the suite Then, slowly, heroom, then the sunporch, eventually theyback the sparkling eifts It didn’t seem to matter if it was an inexpensive scarf, a newly released book that she’d been anticipating, or jewels valued in the thousands of dollars--though her lips smiled, her eyes remained dead
That hy he’d talked to Courtney about a visit with her and Brent Tony had hoped that taking her anywhere would help He never expected that it would be the practice drive that would bring her back to life
What if when Claire woke and if their baby was gone--what if her eyes were once again dead? With each hour, Tony promised he’d move heaven and earth to assure the spark of life in her eyes If it auntlet of her family and friends, he’d do it Whatever she wanted, he would do
His phone rang "Anthony Rawlings," he answered
"Sir, she’s awake" Tony’s heart leapt "The doctor is with her now" The line went dead Seconds later a text cah from Clay:
"THE DOCTOR LEFT MS NICHOLS’ ROOM SHE IS AWAKE HER FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE HERE"
Tony didn’t know if they would all be in her roo in As he approached he saw his ex-in-laws by her door John was the first to see hiaze fueled Tony’s deter until he was in Claire’s room He couldn’t He had to see her--see her eyes--and know that she was all right He needed to be near her, to take her hand and promise more children
"You are not welcome here," John proclaimed, as he stepped in front of the door "I can’t believe you would have the nerve to show your face after all you’ve done"
Tony saw Clay sitting inconspicuously in a nearby waiting area and shook his head in his direction He would handle this on his own Ignoring the daggered stares of his ex-sister-in-law, Tony stopped within a few feet of John "I want to see her"
"I don’t care what you want I don’t even kno you learned that she’s awake, but you’re not going near her"
Emily backed her husband "She doesn’t want to see you"
Making no aggressive est we ask Claire"
"I’ll call the police," Enized Amber from Simon’s funeral, but he didn’t know or care about the identity of the roup
John interrupted with a tone of superiority, "I’s doesn’t want it to coo to jail--unnecessarily Leave now, before--"
Claire’s door opened, silencing the growing crowd as Baldwin e that Baldwin had been where he wanted to be
Harrison Baldwin spoke, "John, stop! Claire wants to see Mr Rawlings"
Easped before she said, "I haven’t even seen her yet She’s my sister"
"Claire wants to see hiaze from John Vandersol to Harrison Baldwin, and replied, "Thank you, Mr Baldwin" He then offered Harrison his hand, and the two men shook as John and Eranted privacy, but Baldwin followed hie as he assessed his ex-wife He’d prepared himself for the worse She was bruised and battered, one eye in particular was darkened; however, that wasn’t what he saw--he saw the eaze met Claire’s, the rest of the world disappeared Before hione