A Terminally Ill Man Asked Me to Pretend to Be His Daughter Because He Didn’t Want to Be Alone – After He Passed Away, a Nurse Came up to Me and Asked, ‘Do You Really Not Know Why He Chose You?’

only meant to keep a lonely patient company while my mother recovered across the hall. But after Thomas died, I learned he’d chosen me for a reason, and that the task he expected me to perform for him was bigger than I could’ve imagined.

My mom was in the hospital for almost six weeks after a surgery that was supposed to be routine.

That was how I met Thomas.

His room was directly across from hers. I noticed him during my first week because there was never anyone with him.

That was how I met Thomas.

Most hospital rooms had some evidence of a life outside those walls.

Flowers dying slowly in plastic vases. Balloons. Family photos taped near the bed. Half-finished crossword puzzles brought by grandchildren.

Thomas had none of that.

He had a television mounted on the wall, usually playing old movies with the volume turned low, and a paperback he never seemed to get past the same twenty pages of.