Nurse Clara: Hey! You can't run down the hallway like that!
Toby: I need room 402! Where is room 402?
Nurse Clara: That's the critical neonatal ward. Visitors aren't allowed without a badge!
Toby: My brother is in there! I know he's in there!
Toby ducked under the nurse's outstretched arm and sprinted faster down the third-floor corridor. His lungs burned, and his heavy school backpack slapped against his spine with every step.
Inside room 402, Mark stood near the window with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, staring aggressively at the floor.
Mark: I told the chief of medicine we wanted the private specialist from downtown.
Sarah: We couldn't afford that doctor, Mark. You spent the last of our savings on that failed business deal last month.
Mark: Don't you dare bring up my company right now, Sarah!
Sarah: It's the truth! Our insurance barely covers this room, and now our baby is lying there unable to take a single full breath on his own!
Mark: If you had taken care of yourself during the pregnancy, we wouldn't be in this hospital in the first place!
Sarah: I worked twelve-hour shifts at the bakery because someone had to pay the mortgage!
Mark stepped closer to her, his jaw clenching as he raised his voice above the rhythmic hum of the medical equipment.
Mark: You blame me for everything, don't you? You always have!
Sarah: Because you never take responsibility for anything, Mark! Not for the debt, not for the house, and not for what happened seven years ago!
Mark's face turned pale at the mention of seven years ago, but before he could answer, the door burst open with a loud thud.
Toby stood in the doorway, panting heavily, his face flushed red and his eyes wide with frantic urgency.
Toby: No, no, please! Stop!
Mark: Who the hell are you?
Sarah: Oh my god... look at his hair...
Mark: Sarah, stay back! I don't know how this kid got past security, but I'm calling the guards right now.
Toby: Don't touch that phone! I'm here for Leo!
Mark: How do you know my son's name?
Toby: Because Grandma sent me! She told me if I didn't get here before the sun went down, Leo wouldn't make it!
Mark's eyes narrowed into slits as he took a threating step toward the boy.
Mark: My mother died five years ago, kid. Stop playing games before I throw you out myself.
Toby: She gave me this watch before she died! She said to keep it until the baby was born!
Toby pulled an old silver pocket watch from his backpack and held it up, its worn cover catching the harsh light of the room.
Sarah gasped, covering her mouth with both hands as fresh tears filled her eyes.
Sarah: Mark... that's your mother's watch. The one that vanished from the safe seven years ago.
Mark: That's impossible. That watch was stolen when...
Toby: When you dropped me off at the state foster agency because you said you couldn't afford a son with medical problems!
The entire room fell into a suffocating silence as the soft beep of the heart monitor hummed in the background.