Five years ago, I would have demanded an apology.
Now I wanted something else.
I wanted him to see the life he had refused to see.
“Come back to the apartment.”
“Why?”
“Because you’ve spent five years blaming Elliot for a decision he actually tried to undo.”
That got his attention.
Back home, Elliot didn’t soften anything.
“When I recovered, I begged Alyssa to reconsider medical school.”
Dad stared at him.
“She did?”
“She met with them.”
Dad looked at me.
I nodded.
“Once.”
Elliot placed the workshop folders on the table.
“I thought I could give her old life back.”
Then he looked at Dad.
“But it wasn’t mine to give back.”
Dad went quiet.
His eyes landed on Grandpa’s black bag.
“I did that too,” he whispered.
“What?”
His thumb moved across the crooked brass latch.
“I raised you believing family came first.”
His eyes filled.
“Your mother died, and I built my life around staying for you.”
He swallowed.
“Then you followed what I taught you, and I punished you because I didn’t approve of the person you chose to stay for.”
I looked at him.
“You were wrong to leave me.”
