Today, Niamh ran into Jonathan at the hospital.
Jonathan was there to handle Clifford’s discharge paperwork.
Clifford had recovered faster than anyone expected; the doctor suggested he could leave the hospital tomorrow, so Jonathan came by to get the administrative work out of the way.
“Thank you…”
Standing together in the hallway outside the hospital room, Jonathan suddenly turned to Niamh and offered his gratitude.
Niamh lifted her eyes and studied him.
It had only been two weeks since she’d last seen Jonathan, but he looked thinner—almost gaunt.
His stomach had always been sensitive, and it was obvious that the pressure from the stalled CelestiMed project was weighing heavily on him. Niamh guessed he hadn’t been eating well lately; otherwise, he wouldn’t look so worn out.
“You don’t have to thank me. No matter what’s going on between us, Clifford is family to me. He always will be.”
She didn’t want Jonathan to get the wrong idea.
She had stayed at the hospital these past days, cooking meals and looking after Clifford—not for Jonathan’s sake.
And certainly not because their divorce wasn’t finalized yet.
Clifford was her grandfather in every way that mattered.
She’d had a biological grandfather once. But honestly, she would have been better off without him.
It was Clifford who had shown her what it felt like to have a gentle, loving grandfather—someone kind, someone who cared.
No matter what happened between her and Jonathan, if Clifford was in the hospital, she would come and take care of him willingly. Especially since it was her words that had upset Clifford and landed him here in the first place.
Jonathan only nodded in response, keeping his thoughts to himself.
Later, as Jonathan was finalizing the paperwork, Niamh noticed him from across the lobby, pressing a hand to his stomach.
Is his ulcer acting up again? she wondered, letting out a soft sigh.
After Clifford’s discharge, Sprague hosted a dinner party at Verdant Lake Estates to celebrate his recovery.
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