space. The world outside the car windows seemed d

alked into Leo's room and saw him lying there, his breathing shallow. The moonlight c

d, and his eyes flickered o

pered, his voice

baby. I'm r

hand, and I took it

asked. His eyes were so full of

ezed his hand and tried to sm

were the one comforting me. "Tell

for hours, holding his hand, watching the slow rise and fall of his ches

wed was absolute. It w

it wouldn't come out. I just sat there, frozen, holding m

t gently pried my fingers from Leo's, wrapped me in his arms, and led me

from a world that had suddenly become unbearable. We planned the funeral. I picked out a small white casket. I chose t

s clothes, smelling the faint scent of him that still lingered on the fabric. I put his books back on the shelf. Tuc

le. There was him, holding my hand. And there was a tall figure next to him, labeled "Daddy." But the figu

know what he looked like anymore. He was just

n's longing, shattered the fog of my grief. The sorrow didn't disa

sobs I had been holding back finally came. They weren't just sob

membered how I had supported him through his Ph.D., working two jobs so he could focus on his studies. I remembered giving up my own promis

is life, and he had used it as

project. She had been actively, maliciously sabotaging my son's only chance at life. She saw Leo not as a sick child, but as a rival for

his. They

eliberate neglect and h

r subtle, venom

together to achieve their goal, an

now. It burned away the tears, the despair, t

son. They t

e everythin

e his lies, his unethical behavior, his monstrous "ethics." I w

ompletely that she would become a pariah, a ghost

ear-stained. I smoothed it out carefully.

woman. They were about to find out what a m

ragedy. It would be an explosion. And