When Love Finds Its Way Back (Cassienne and Dreston) novel Chapter 395

For a moment, neither of them spoke, and Cassienne held their daughter a little closer as she continued looking at the man she had feared she might never see awake again.

“You’re awake.”

“So are you.”

His voice was low and rough, but the sound of it still brought a faint smile to her face.

“How do you feel?”

“Like someone shot me.”

Cassienne’s smile disappeared immediately, and Dreston noticed the change in her expression.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t joke about that.”

“I wasn’t joking.”

“That makes it worse.”

He slowly moved one hand against the bed as if he wanted to sit up, but the pain that crossed his face did not escape her notice.

“Don’t move.” Cassienne warned him.

“I only wanted to sit up.”

“No.”

“I want to see her.”

“You can see her from there.”

“Not properly.”

Cassienne glanced toward the monitor beside his bed, already worried that the slightest movement would cause another alarm.

“Your doctors will blame me if your blood pressure rises again.”

“They already blame me for everything.”

“I wouldn't blame them when you threatened to buy the hospital.”

Dreston became quiet, and Cassienne stared at him with growing disbelief.

“Did you really say that?”

“I was emotional.”

“You were awake for what ? Ten minutes.”

“I had been unconscious for days, Cassienne. I had many things to say.”

Despite herself, she smiled, but the smile did not last because the emotion she had been trying to control returned the moment she looked down at the baby in her arms.

Dreston watched her quietly before asking, “What is wrong?”

She closed her eyes briefly, knowing there was no reason to pretend with him anymore.

“I was afraid.”

His expression changed immediately, and when she looked at him again, her eyes were already filled with tears.

“I was so afraid, Dreston. I sat beside you every day, spoke to you, held your hand, and told you about the baby, even when I didn’t know whether you could hear anything I was saying.”

Dreston’s eyes became wet. “I remember some of it.”

Cassienne stared at him. “What? You do?”

“Not everything.”

He swallowed slowly, his voice becoming softer as he tried to explain what the memories had felt like.

“It was more like I was very far away, but sometimes I heard voices.”

“Mine?”

“Yes.”

Her tears returned immediately. “What did you hear?”

Dreston looked toward the ceiling as if the memories were hidden somewhere above him and he only needed to concentrate hard enough to find them.

“You told me not to leave you, and you said the baby needed me.”

Cassienne looked away, but her fingers tightened around the blanket covering their daughter.

“You placed my hand on your stomach.”

She turned back to him. “The baby kicked.”

Dreston nodded slowly. “I felt something.”

Cassienne’s face crumpled. “I thought I imagined your fingers moving.”

“I tried.”

That was all it took for her to begin crying again, and Dreston lifted one hand toward her even though the distance between their beds made it impossible for him to reach her.

“Cassienne.”

She quickly wiped her face. “I don’t want to cry again.”

“You can cry.”

“I have cried enough.”

“So have I.”

Cassienne looked at him and saw that his eyes were wet too. She had seen him cry the day before, when their daughter had wrapped her tiny fingers around his, but this was different because there was more than joy in his face now. There was pain, regret, love, and the fear of everything they had almost lost. Cassienne looked down at the baby.

“She needs a name.”

Dreston’s eyes softened immediately.

“We talked about two.”

“Lilly.”

“And Jasmine.”

Cassienne nodded. “I still love both.”

“So do I.”

She looked at him. “Which one do you want?”

Dreston remained quiet for a moment before turning his eyes toward their daughter. “Why should we choose?”

Cassienne smiled. “You want to use both?”

“Lilly Jasmine.”

She repeated it quietly, allowing the name to settle inside her heart.

“Are you ready?”

Cassienne looked down at Lilly and suddenly felt nervous, which was strange because Dreston was the baby’s father, yet passing their daughter into his arms felt important, almost sacred.

She kissed Lilly’s forehead before allowing the nurse to lift her carefully.

Dreston watched every movement, and when the baby was finally placed in his arms, he became completely still.

He looked terrified.

Cassienne almost laughed, but the deep emotion on his face stopped her.

“Am I holding her correctly?”

“Yes,” the nurse assured him.

“Her head?”

“It is supported.”

“Is she comfortable?”

“She is fine.”

Dreston looked at Cassienne. “Are you sure?”

Cassienne smiled softly. “You are doing well.”

His eyes returned to the baby, and the moment Lilly stirred, he froze.

“She moved.”

Cassienne rolled her eyes at him. “Babies move, Dreston, don't be dramatic.”

Dreston continued staring at Lilly, and when the baby opened her eyes for one brief moment, he seemed to stop breathing.

“Cassienne.”

“I see.”

“She opened her eyes.”

Cassienne’s heart filled again as she watched him look down at their daughter as though he had been given the entire world.

“Hello, Lilly,” he whispered, his voice barely loud enough to hear. “I’m your father.”

Cassienne looked away because the tears came too quickly, but Dreston continued speaking softly.

“I am sorry I almost missed you.”

When Cassienne looked back at him, tears were already running down his face.

“I will be here.”

His arms tightened carefully around the baby. “I promise.”

Cassienne pressed her lips together as he looked at her.

“For both of you.”

She nodded.

“I believe you.”

Those words mattered more than either of them could explain because there had been a time when the trust between them had been broken, a time when Cassienne could not believe anything he promised, but now she did. Not because he had become perfect or because the past had disappeared, but because they had survived the truth and still chosen each other.