The Doctor at the Door Called the Beggar "Dad"

CHAPTER 1 - THE DOOR IN THE RAIN

"We're closing. Come back tomorrow."

The guard said it through the glass as if he were talking about a store, not a hospital.

Ruby coughed so hard her whole face turned red.

Then pale.

Elias stepped forward. The guard lifted a hand and started pulling the door shut.

"I don't know if she'll make it till tomorrow," Elias said, and his voice broke in the middle.

Ruby's small hand grabbed his collar. "Grandpa..."

The sound of her cough carried into the lobby.

A young doctor at the end of the hall turned fast. He heard it. Something in that weak, tearing little cough cut through every other sound in the building. He strode toward the entrance, jaw set, white coat moving behind him.

The guard began, "Doctor, we're diverting non-"

The doctor shoved the door open.

"Bring her in. Now."

Elias rushed past him, stunned and half crying, his boots leaving muddy prints on the polished floor. Then he stopped so suddenly that Ruby whimpered.

That face.

Older. Sharper. Tired around the eyes.

But his son's face all the same.

"Michael..." Elias whispered. Rain and tears ran together. "My son."

The doctor froze.

For one impossible second, he just stared.

Then he stepped closer, his own eyes filling. "Dad?"

His hand came out to steady Elias's shaking arm. The warmth of that touch almost dropped the old man to his knees.

But Michael's gaze fell to the child in his father's arms.

A little girl with red curls plastered to her forehead. Freckles. Fever-bright eyes. Fingers locked in Elias's wet collar.

Michael's expression changed at once.

Confusion.

Alarm.

Something deeper.

"Dad..." he said, voice tightening. "Who is she?"

Before Elias could answer, Ruby gave a ragged gasp, and Michael saw the silver bracelet on her wrist.

It was engraved with one word.

Anna.