Sad to Say Goodbye
By the end of the night, she was bedridden with a high fever for an entire week.
After that, she had learned to call him "Uncle."
The little girl who had once searched his face for a father's love was gone, buried beneath disappointment after disappointment.
I blinked back tears, holding her close.
"Alicia, your uncle is happy because the person he loves is finally back. We have to make room for them—we can't get in his way."
Her smile slowly faded, the light in her eyes dimming.
Then, as if she had just realized something, she anxiously showed me the little scarf around her neck.