And for the first time, I believed that maybe he truly understood what he had done.
During the months that followed, Chris never left again.
He was with the children through every treatment.
When Ben didn’t want to enter the hospital room, Chris sat beside him until the boy was ready.
When Lily couldn’t sleep at night, Chris read stories to her.
But Lily’s condition continued to get worse.
Seven months later, the doctors told us there was nothing more they could do.
On her final night, Lily was very weak.
Ben, who was still undergoing treatment himself, sat beside his sister’s hospital bed.
He held Lily’s hand.
I held the other.
Chris sat near her feet.
Lily asked us to play the recording of ocean waves she had saved on the phone.
The room filled with the soft sound of the sea.
A few minutes later, Lily opened her eyes.
She looked at her brother.
“Ben, you have to go back to the ocean.”
Ben was crying.
“We’ll go together.”
Lily gave him a very weak smile.
“If I can’t, then you’ll go for both of us.”
Then she looked at her father.
“Daddy.”
Chris moved closer.
“I’m here.”
“You stayed this time?”
Chris held his little girl’s hand.
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Those were among her final words.
That night, Lily never opened her eyes again.
