The child blinked.
He wanted to call his mom and dad, too.
"Can I?"
The doctor saw the longing and hope on the child's face.
She knew how much he missed his mom and dad.
The child nodded.
The doctor handed him her phone.
Grandma Yu couldn't help clenching her hands.
Grandfather Yu leaned forward, too.
The two old people knew that the child's mom and dad were gone.
But the child was asking to call them as if it were the most natural thing in the world...
They couldn't help...
They actually felt themselves wavering...
And began to hope...
They knew how absurd it was...
The child carefully pressed in his mom's phone number, one digit at a time.
He mumbled indistinctly as he did.
But the two old people understood every word.
After all, they knew their son's number and their daughter-in-law's by heart.
The child lifted the phone to his ear.
The counseling room was silent.
Everyone's eyes were on the child.
Even their breathing had grown faint.
Time passed.
The child lowered the phone, looking confused and hurt.
"No one answered?"
The doctor asked knowingly.
"Mm."
The child puffed out his cheeks.
"Mom won't answer..."
His features drooped, like a little dog caught in the rain.
He looked so pitiful.
The two old people felt a complicated mix of disappointment and resignation.
How could the call possibly go through?
They knew that...
But when the child put the phone to his ear—
No.
When he pressed the first digit, hope had still risen in their hearts despite themselves.
"Why..."
The child dialed his mom's number again.
This time, he didn't put the phone to his ear.
Instead, he stared intently at the phone