That night, back in the hospital, the machines beeped softly. The boy's breaths were slower now. His father sat beside him, holding his tiny hand once again.
The boy looked up at him and whispered,
> "I love you, Dad… You'll always be my hero. You just realized it a little late."
His eyes slowly closed, his lips curved into a peaceful smile. The monitor went still.
The father froze, unable to breathe. The mother screamed and fell to her knees.
The doctor bowed his head.
The room filled with silence — the kind that stays forever.
---
In his final moments, the little boy had found the love he always craved. He left the world smiling — knowing that, at least for a few days, he had lived in the warmth of his parents' love.
And for them, that short time would remain an eternal wound — and a reminder that time, once lost, can never be brought back.
---------THE END---------