Chapter 26: The echo of the past
Later that evening...
Zara leaned back on the headboard of her bed in her quiet room, propping up her bandaged leg on a pillow. The day had dragged, each hour ticking by with the dull ache of missing Zane. She reached for her phone to distract herself.
A new notification from social media lit up the screen.
It was a post from Nathaniel.
Curious, she opened it and immediately, her lips curved into a smile.
The photographs of Zane and Nathaniel at the amusement park, beaming, flashed on the screen.
The first photo showed Zane on Nathaniel’s shoulders, cotton candy in one hand, his little face glowing with joy. Another one had them screaming mid-air on a roller coaster, Nathaniel gripping Zane protectively while Zane’s laughter lit up his face.
In the final picture, they sat together with matching ice cream cones, Zane leaning into his father, cheeks smudged with chocolate.
Zara’s heart swelled. She tapped through the pictures slowly, absorbing every detail—Zane’s unfiltered laughter, Nathaniel’s quiet attentiveness, the way their hands stayed linked in almost every frame.
Any trace of disappointment or guilt she had been harboring for missing the day melted away. Her son was happy. That was all that mattered.
She pressed the like button under the photos.