I moved to Claire’s side, heart pounding. Her eyes fluttered open. When she saw me, she smiled—the same gentle smile she’d worn at my graduation.
“I knew you’d come,” she whispered.
Tears blurred my vision. I gripped her hand. “I’m sorry,” I choked. “I was wrong. You’re not a nobody. You’re the reason I’m here. You gave me everything. You gave me your life.”
Her fingers squeezed mine weakly.
“You climbed the ladder,” she murmured. “That’s what I wanted. I didn’t take the easy road. I took your road—so you could walk it.”
The truth hit me all at once.
Claire had sacrificed her youth, her dreams, her health—everything—for me. And I had dismissed her as nothing.
I stayed by her side for days, listening to her stories, remembering nights she worked until dawn, mornings she packed my lunch with trembling hands. Every detail was proof of her strength, her love.
When she finally closed her eyes, her hand still in mine, the world collapsed again.
But this time, I understood.
Claire had never been a nobody. She had been everything.
