Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Time had never crawled like this before.

It dragged on, stretching out like eleven endless years.

Vince stood up and walked over.

He let out a weary sigh.

Timothy had always been ruthless, capable of doing the most unthinkable things to Jessy-but Vince could never bring himself to be that heartless. No matter how

hard he tried, he simply couldn't stop caring about Timothy.

They'd grown up together. Thirty years of friendship.

At last, the doors to the operating room swung open.

The Lawsons immediately crowded around, bombarding the doctors with anxious questions.

Their voices overlapped in a surge of panic and desperation, making the doctors' heads spin.

"Enough! Quiet down!" one of the doctors barked, exasperated. "All this noise isn't helping the patient's recovery!"

Instantly, silence fell. The waiting room felt still, heavy with fear and hope.

At least, no one had said the worst. No one had announced a death.

A doctor stepped forward. "The internal bleeding wasn't fatal. We've managed to take care of it. The real danger was the brain hemorrhage. We performed a craniotomy, and the surgery was a success. But the next seventy-two hours are critical. If there's no further bleeding and the patient regains consciousness after three days, then he'll be out of danger."

They'd managed to snatch him back from the brink.

hung

if he doesn't

a permanent vegetative state. For now, he'll be in intensive care, monitored by our best team. When he's brought out, please keep quiet. Go home and prepare anything he'll need for his stay-clothes, toiletries. Only one person should stay to make any major

again,

was dangerous-he was too old for this

to expectations. And now, his only outstanding grandson was lying broken behind

call a nurse, who hurried over

felt like everyone's blood pressure had

nurses wheeled Timothy

and ghostly pale. Dried, dark blood clung to his lips. His head had been shaved and was now bandaged in layers of white gauze, held in place by a netted

covered her mouth,

tears twisted in a

down her fanguish,

but

make

Naylor nearly fainted again.

really his

barely more than a

his jaw,

to stand, but Herbert caught

the hospital bed. Jessica could only the outline of

saw the nurses

steady beeping of a

and, his voice hoarse, asked, "Do you want to

mind echoed with