Fantasy

Nathan Cole gave everything to his marriage. He turned down promotions. He emptied his savings. He woke up every morning and chose his family even when his family stopped choosing him back. For six years he told himself that love was a decision, not a feeling, and he kept making it long after Vivienne had quietly stopped. Then came the diagnosis. Progressive Myelin Decay Syndrome. Rare. Degenerative. Expensive to treat. And the optimal window for treatment had almost completely passed, because every time Nathan had tried to get Lily seen, Vivienne had told him he was overreacting. Lily was seven years old. She wanted one thing for her birthday. Not gifts. Not a party. Just her mother standing in the same room long enough to watch her blow out the candles. It should have been effortless. Instead Nathan watched his wife choose a man's son over her own daughter. Watched her dismiss a dying child's collapse as manipulation. Watched her drive away and leave them on the side of a road while Lily fought to breathe in his arms. He buried his daughter alone on a quiet morning while Vivienne celebrated someone else's birthday at home. ~.~ When a mother chooses the wrong child to save. And a father is left with nothing but a drawing and a promise he made while running. How do you rebuild a life from the wreckage of everything you gave away?