The Return

Mark and Sabrina came home from Las Vegas on Friday night.

From my front window, I watched them get out of their rental car. Their postures were rigid. Their expressions tight.
No gifts. No stories.
The trip had clearly not gone the way they’d hoped.

I sat in my recliner, looked frail on purpose, and let my hand tremble slightly.

“Dad,” Mark said, scanning my face, “you look… better.”

Sabrina’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly.

“How are you feeling, Leonard?” she asked sweetly.

“In truth,” I said, “I’ve felt a bit weak. Dizzy. A little pressure.”

Their expressions shifted.
Mark’s conflicted.
Sabrina’s calculating.

“Oh, Leonard,” she said softly, “bodies at your age have their own timetable.”

The words slid across the room like ice.

Over the next days, I stumbled slightly, paused on the staircase, rubbed my chest occasionally.
Every act drew a flicker of interest from Sabrina—like a scientist observing an experiment.

Mark, however, looked more and more like a man trapped inside his own regret.