Goodbye, and Thank You

Alexander’s POV

I sit by the window of the care home, sunlight streaking through the glass and warming the table where I peel an apple. My father sits quietly beside me in his wheelchair, his eyes distant as always—but I keep talking, the way I always do.

“I told Dad… Isabel finally told the kids,” I say, smiling as I slice the apple into even halves. “Scarlett and Sterling. They know I’m their real father now.”

I glance at him, even though I know he doesn’t really understand me. Not since the accident. His silence is different now—disconnected. But still, I want to share this moment with him. I need to.

I lift my wrist, showing him the simple colorful bracelet. “You see this? Scarlett gave it to me months ago. She said it was a friendship bracelet. 

I let out a quiet laugh, remembering how I’d smiled and accepted it—grateful, even though my heart was breaking.

Back then, I thought I was just a stranger in their lives. A ghost watching from the side