The next morning, the boy woke up.
Beside him was his mother, who was also asleep, keeping him company.
The boy remained silent, not moving so as not to disturb his mother's sleep.
However, seeing his mother asleep made the boy drowsy again. He closed his eyes again and fell asleep.
After a while, his mother woke up. The sight of her sleeping son made her pause for a moment. After a while, his mother left the room.
The boy had been asleep for quite some time, and when he woke up, he found himself alone in the room again.
An hour passed and someone opened the door. The boy thought it was his mother, but it turned out to be the nurse on duty.
The nurse approached the boy with a smile. She kindly asked how the boy was feeling.
"Does anything still hurt now? The nurse asked while changing the IV line.
Because the boy still felt weak, he couldn't answer and just shook his head slowly.
"I see... the doctor will come in soon and check you again." The nurse said kindly.
After completing everything necessary, the nurse left the room.
The boy was alone again, staring boredly at the hospital ceiling.
After some time, a doctor entered the room. The doctor approached the boy with a friendly smile.
"Hello, good afternoon. I'll be examining you today." The doctor put on his stethoscope and began examining the boy.
In the middle of the examination, the nurse re-entered the room. The doctor told her many necessary things.
The boy didn't understand anything they were saying. However, judging by the doctor and nurse's expressions, the boy knew that his condition wasn't good.
After completing the examination, the doctor and nurse left the room.
Bored and sleepy, the boy fell back asleep.
In the middle of the night, the boy woke up to find his mother sitting asleep beside him. He closed his eyes again.
The next morning, when the boy opened his eyes, he smiled. He saw his mother there.
After a while, the doctor and nurse re-entered the room. After completing the examination, they left the room with his mother.
After a while, his mother re-entered the room with a slightly dazed expression. The boy looked at his mother's expression sadly.
Although no one had told him, he knew the doctor had explained his condition to his mother.
Even though the child didn't know what condition he was in, judging from his mother's expression he knew that he wasn't getting better.
Lunchtime arrived. The child hadn't eaten anything since yesterday, and this time, with the doctor's permission, he was able to eat, albeit only a bowl of porridge.
The nurse came in with a tray of warm rice porridge and a glass of water. After helping the child sit up, the nurse left the room again.
He and his mother were left alone. His mother took a glass of water and slowly spooned it to the child.
After a few spoonfuls, his mother took the bowl of still-warm rice porridge and began to feed him.
Slowly, she stirred the rice porridge so it wouldn't be too hot.
One spoonful, two spoonfuls, three spoonfuls. The child began to shed tears.
It had been quite some time since his mother had fed him. Seeing her child shedding tears, his mother's hands began to tremble slightly.
But even so, his mother tried to hold back her tears, even though her eyes felt sore.
After finishing eating, the child smiled.
"Th... an... k... yo... u... mom..." The boy said in a soft voice and smile.
Seeing her son struggling to speak, his mother unconsciously bit her lip. She tried to hold back the change in expression on her face.
Two days passed. The boy could now sit up on his own and felt a little more energetic.
Seeing this, his mother asked him.
"Do you want to go out for a walk?"
The boy's eyes opened wide. For the first time in a long time, he was going to go out with his mother.
"I-I want to." Unconsciously, the boy answered with a happy expression on his face.
His mother went to see the nurse and returned with a wheelchair. With the nurse's help, the boy was lifted into the wheelchair.
His mother pushed the wheelchair slowly. Luckily, the weather outside was quite nice. Not too hot, not too cold.
Even just walking around the garden within the hospital grounds made the boy happy.
After finishing his walk, the boy lay back down in his room.
His mother left the room and sat in the waiting room.
Staring at the hospital ceiling, an image crossed her mind. Seeing her son sleeping with an oxygen tube attached made her look bitter.
Her mother began to cry silently.
The next day, because the boy was feeling a little better, he asked the nurse who came in.
The nurse brought what he asked for, some colored paper and other supplies for making origami.
Having been told his mother would be coming that afternoon, the boy quickly made several paper flowers like the ones he had made at home.
Lunchtime arrived. His mother gently fed him again. After he finished eating, the boy planned to give her the paper flowers he had made earlier.
"Mom..." The boy held out several paper flowers he had made.
His mother was a little surprised, but then accepted them with a smile.
"Thank you."
Every day, his mother would come, whether in the morning, afternoon, or even late at night.
Sometimes they would wander around the garden again, watching the birds fly by, the people passing by, and so on. They would chat, making up for the days when there was no conversation in their house.
More than a week had passed, and the boy's condition still hadn't improved. His mother could only stroke his head and apologize.
Until that day, when he was waiting for his mother to arrive.
"That was a happy day for me."
"Really?"
"Yes, I've wanted to talk to my mother like that for a long time. We even wandered around the garden."
"My mother even fed me, and she even took time off from work to accompany me."
"Circumstances really can change a person, don't they?"
"You're right."
"Sometimes I still wonder, if only I hadn't fallen ill like this, would my mother be talking to me like this?"
"But it's still quite sad."
"I want to be with my mother when I can walk on my own, hold her hand, and maybe run together."
"I still want to talk to her about many things."
"But unfortunately, I can't anymore."
"Are you sad?"
"Of course."
"Do you hate her?"
"Of course not. In fact, sometimes I think my mother hates me."
"But it turns out she doesn't. She loves me very much." The boy smiled.
"How did you know?"
"At first, I didn't know either, but slowly I began to understand."
"My mother loves me in her own way."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
That night, when the beeping of the machines connected to his body stopped.
The boy no longer needed to lie in bed.
He also no longer needed oxygen and IV lines.
"It's time to go."
"Can I wait a little longer?"
The nurse who entered the room immediately ran and called the doctor, who immediately took action.
The defibrillator used was no longer able to revive his stopped heartbeat.
After all the effort, the child remained there, his eyes tightly closed.
His mother, who had just arrived, running as fast as she could, gasping for breath, immediately collapsed to the ground, realizing what had happened.
The doctor and nurses there bowed their heads in apology and condolences.
His mother approached him and held the hand that would no longer be able to touch her again.
With all her regret, her mother wept.
"I'm sorry if I've made you sad, Mom."
"I'm sorry, I can no longer wipe away your tears."
"I'm sorry I've become a burden in your life."
"I'm sorry."
"But Mom, thank you for everything."
"For all the time and energy you've spent caring for me."
"Thank you for the love you've given me."
"Even if it's a cold love, it's your love."
"Thank you."
Even though the child's voice could no longer be heard by his mother, he still said what he wanted to say.
"But at least, I wanted to give you real flowers."
Slowly, the child began to fade.
He could no longer hold his mother.
The warmth he felt had now vanished, becoming fragments of stars.
"Even if fate has already been written, I will still pray for you."
"May you still have a warm and beautiful love in your next life."