“You were lying,” he said. The brightness from just now had gone out all at once, and the return of the blankness in his face and tone was more terrifying than if he’d just broken down and cried. “Mom, tell me the truth. What really happened to him?”
The bag and its contents dropped to the floor as Mrs. Ashford found herself rising from her chair to wrap her son in her arms.
“Darling, I am so sorry…” she told him as she wept. Despite being in his mother’s embrace, Ren felt completely cold. As if through a tunnel, he heard her continue, “He’s still unconscious—no one knows if he could recover at all…”
Mrs. Ashford was truly frightened when Ren asked bluntly, “Do you mean he could die?”
“We…” she replied in a shaky voice. “We don’t know that…”
When Ren didn’t say anything else, her fear
