The last few nights I've been having dreams --or nightmares, really-- about what else I could have done or what I could have done differently with my dad since I flew home to "get him better". The last few nights I would wake up very distressed. Last night, right in the middle of a dream where I was agonizing about what to do, my dad appeared for two seconds, tousled my hair, and left. I snapped out of the dream while still in the dream and started calling out "dad? Dad!" but he was gone. I woke up crying.
My mom said that it was probably his way of telling me to stop worrying about what I could have done differently and while that gives me comfort, I still wonder.