Desmond and I ambled into the private ward. A feminine figure which I soon recognized to be Clare's was sitting on a stool beside the patient's bed and backing us.

“You're back, Callie?” she asked without lifting her head to spare us a glance as she continued to hold mom's hand.

“Is Callie around?” Desmond asked, with a chuckle in his voice, in an attempt to announce our presence.

She swiftly lifted her head in our direction and a smile flashed through her eyes as she jumped to her feet directly and came to hug me.

“I wasn't expecting to see you soon,” she asserted with a beam, looking from...