I drove home that evening with my hands still shaking on the steering wheel. The sun had already started to set. Cars moved around me, but I barely noticed them.

All I could see was that photo.

When I reached Mom’s house, the porch light was already on. I stepped inside and dropped my bag on the chair. Mom looked up from the kitchen table, where she had been sorting bills.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” she said gently.

I barely noticed them.

I sat down across from her. “You remember Dad’s watch?”

Her eyebrows lifted slightly. “The silver Rolex?”

“Yeah.”

She studied my face. “What happened, Kelly?”

“We admitted a stroke patient today.” I looked down at my hands. “It was him.”

Mom leaned back in her chair, absorbing the words.

“You remember Dad’s watch?”

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