“Mom, I will be graduating soon. So I’m having a meeting with my teacher regarding my future plans.”           

She looked to be smiling. The plastic mask over her face fogged up a little. Her heartrate on the ventilator’s monitor reassured me that she still hung on to life, as she had been these past ten years.           

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ll take care of you forever.”           

On the day of the meeting, my father came with me to school. After greeting each other, we all sat down. My homeroom teacher took one look at the plan I had submitted, then scratched his head. “You are going to study nursing,” my teacher said, “so you can take care of your mother, who’s in a coma at home?”            

“Is there something wrong with that?” I spoke.            

“I am against it,” said my father. “It’s absurd to decide your future based on something like that.”           

“Something like that?” I said. “Who else can take care of her, if not me? You’re always working and rarely come home. Not to mention that it’s me who made her like that. The morning of that accident, she got hit by the car for saving my life. It’s all my fault Mom hasn’t woken up!”           

Silence fell, and I could hear my teacher gulp.           

“I have requested a transfer,” my father finally said. “My new position comes with less responsibility and no chance of promotion, but I will have more time.”           

For the first time today, I looked his way.           

“I will take care of your mother,” my father continued. “Choose the future you can be happy with, and let me know. I will support you all the way.”