He hasn't died on you before has he? I think the odds are with you that he's not dead now.

Hate that niggling thought though. Maybe you're going through the gamut doing a "worse case scenario" practice run? It's pretty save (and good/helpful) to try it out when there's little chance it's true. You can't explore what it's like for someone to be away when they're not away :-) Like a toddler leaving their mother and coming back to "check" on her, make sure she's still there, etc. Eventually they go further and further afield until they have their very own life! Then they can go to school and be big 5 or 6 year olds