A Reborn Bride Pearl Emerging from Dust by Sally Garcia

Chapter 823

"I know," Calliope said, glancing at Silas. "I just feel so bad for them, you know? It took them so much to finally be together, and now... it all ended so quickly. Lance must be hurting so much."

"He can't bear to say goodbye to Hudson," Silas replied softly. "It's always the ones left behind who suffer most."

Silas's voice trembled a little. He looked up at Calliope. "He'll get through it. Someday, maybe decades from now, they'll meet again. This is just a temporary goodbye."

Calliope wiped her tears and tried to pull herself together. She started taking care of all the things that needed to be handled.

Lance, for his part, managed to keep it together. After spending a long time with Hudson, and with everyone's help, he finally let them take Hudson to the funeral home.

They called everyone who needed to know. People started to show up, one after another.

Hudson never had a huge circle of friends, but he'd made sure everything was in place to make things easier for Lance.

Calliope and Silas stayed by Lance's side, helping however they could.

Lance barely left Hudson's side, just sitting there and staring at him. He looked calm on the surface, but it was the kind of calm that comes from being completely shattered inside.

Hudson had told him it was okay to be sad for a few days.

But is grief ever something you can just switch off?

was mourning, too. They'd both been her friends for years. One of them was gone now, and it hurt. All she could do was sit next to Lance, listening to him

story, then, halfway through, would break

kept coming to pay their

but with Silas there, Calliope and Lance didn't have to worry about anything. They kept their silent vigil by Hudson's side. They stayed up all night, burning candles and sharing stories, a bit like a wake with coffee

cry,

it was time for the cremation, that something inside him just snapped. He screamed and fought and sobbed so hard nobody

stay with

you'd take care of me for the rest of our lives. How can you

to go on by

"Hudson!"

to me! Please, just

to burn what's

it have been me? Do you know how scared I am? I'm terrified without you. If only it had been me instead I wouldn't even know what

Why couldn't you have stayed? Why couldn't you have let

poured out in

stayed close,

bet

a word. She let him cry,

cried for a long, long