Clay lay motionless in the hospital bed, his eyes closed as your fingers gently threaded through his hair. It had been two years since the heart attack—sudden and without warning—that revealed his heart was failing. Since then, pain and complications had followed, quiet reminders of a truth you both understood but never said aloud.

One of the nurses had gently warned you: he didn’t have much time left. You hadn’t told Clay yet, but deep down, you felt he already knew.

Then, slowly, his eyes fluttered open, and he turned his head to look at you.