The call came in the middle of the night, and I knew instantly that something was wrong. But nothing could have prepared me for what I would discover waiting at the hospital.
My name’s Maren. I’m 47, and I have a son, Leo, 19.
He’s my whole world.
Through everything, it’s always been just us. Although he’s turning into a young man, Leo still kisses my cheek before leaving and says, “Love you, Mom,” with meaning.
But that night felt different.
At 1:08 a.m., Leo’s call woke me up. “What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing, Mom… just stay up for me, okay?”
I smiled groggily.
“Why?”
“Ooh, a girl?” I teased.
“No,” he said quickly. Then, quieter, “But she’s definitely someone… very special. I want you to meet her as soon as possible.”
Something in the way he spoke made my chest constrict.
“I’ll explain when I get there.
Just trust me.”
I reluctantly agreed.
That’s the last thing he said.
***
At 2:03 a.m., I received a call from the hospital while making a cup of coffee to help me stay awake.
They said there was a head-on collision on Route 9.
I honestly don’t remember the drive to the hospital, just flashing lights, noise, and my hands shaking on the wheel.
When I rushed into the reception area, they told me Leo was in surgery. He was alive, but barely.
I was too anxious to sit in the waiting room. I was pacing when a doctor came in to talk to me.
“The passenger is in a coma,” the doctor said.
“She has no identification (ID).”
“I know about her not having an ID. My son told me,” I whispered.
But in the daze I was in, I neglected to tell them that I didn’t know her.
So, after the doctor left, promising to keep me updated on both patients, a nurse handed me a plastic bag.
“The woman’s belongings.”
Inside the bag were sunglasses, mints, and a small silver locket.
My hands started shaking before I even opened it.
Something inside me didn’t want to look, but I did, anyway.
When I flipped the locket open, the world just… stopped.
Because the photo inside wasn’t just familiar.
It was something I hadn’t seen in decades.
Something I thought no one else in this world still had.
In that moment… I finally understood who Leo had been bringing home that night.
I wish I were ready for the truth… but I wasn’t.
The photo inside the locket showed me at 18.
I was sitting on a hospital bed, hair pulled back, eyes swollen as if I’d been crying all night.
The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page.
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