Goodbye, Mr. Regret

After Naylor set Henry down, the boy walked straight toward Jessica.

Jessica was leaning against the wall, her gaze fixed anxiously on the doors to the operating room. She was silently praying that Timothy's surgery would go

smoothly.

The last thing she wanted was to owe him such a life-altering debt.

All her attention was wrapped around the worries in her heart.

Suddenly, a small, warm hand slipped into hers.

Glancing to her side, she saw Henry looking up at her with innocent, searching eyes.

His expression was riddled with guilt, uncertainty, and a hint of fear.

Henry was afraid she might push him away.

The look in her son's eyes made Jessica's heart soften.

She didn't say a word or pull away. She simply let Henry hold her hand in his steady, silent grip.

them. The sight of mother and

still drawn together by something deep and unspoken. No matter the years or the distance, that

seen Jessica and Henry together before; this was his first time, and the image unsettled him. It was as if Jessica and

he felt this way, but the

to Jessica

made her choice all

gnawed

had he lost to

have that

before Yates finally understood

passing second

even "Mom." He was afraid that if he spoke, Jessica would snap out of her daze

long it had been since he and his mother had been this

neither long nor short, lasted about three hours. At

first, looking utterly exhausted. He had led the operation as chief surgeon—a renowned neurologist, with a team of other specialists assisting.