A faint, sterile smell of hospital disinfectant lingers in the air, and the soft, rhythmic beeping of a monitor keeps time with her shallow breaths, each sound a reminder of where she is.Patrick’s hand grips hers, tight and desperate, as if holding on could keep her here. His forehead rests on her knuckles, his shoulders shaking.“Umma,” he whispers, his voice breaking. “Please, don’t go.”I want to stay, she thinks with growing desperation. God, I want to stay. The thought repeats in her head, desperate and aching.She hears Jesse and Sam beside him. They do not speak, just hold him, their grief the only sound. Her boys. Her son and his brothers are, in every way, not by blood. She raised them. She loved them. She remembers the mornings in the kitchen, the smell of pancakes and their laughter filling the air. Those moments, fleeting and precious, shaped their lives. Now, they carry the weight of her leaving.Tears burn behind her eyelids as she whispers, “No.”“Please, God.” Her hea
Last Updated : 2025-10-28 Read more