Richard stood frozen. His wife, Isabelle, was sobbing uncontrollably. Eight doctors surrounded the incubator.
“Nothing is working,” the chief physician said quietly. “There’s a severe airway obstruction, but scans show no visible foreign object. We suspect a rare internal mass.”
Richard’s voice cracked. “Do something.”
“We’ve done everything.”
Then Leo appeared in the doorway.
“Excuse me, sir… I came to return your wallet.”
Isabelle turned sharply and gasped.
“Who let this filthy kid in here?!”
Security moved toward him.
Richard barely glanced over. “Not now, son. We’re losing our child.”
Leo held out the wallet. “I found it near your office.”
Isabelle grabbed it. “Check if anything’s missing.”
A doctor snapped, “Remove him. This is a sterile environment.”
But Leo wasn’t looking at them.
He was looking at the baby.
The swelling on the right side of the infant’s neck.
Too precise. Too small.
Not like a tumor.
Like something lodged inside.
“It’s not a mass,” Leo said quietly.
The doctors scoffed.
“And what would you know?” one muttered.
Leo swallowed. “When he tried to breathe, something moved right here.” He pointed beneath his own jaw.
The heart monitor fell silent.
Flatline.
Isabelle screamed.
Doctors stepped back slowly.
Time of death approached.
Security grabbed Leo’s arm to escort him out.
But Richard suddenly looked at the boy — truly looked at him — and saw something no one else had.
Not arrogance.
Not attention-seeking.
Real concern.
“You said it’s not a tumor,” Richard said hoarsely. “What is it?”
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