A Second Chance at Forever novel (Eleanor and Bernard)

Chapter 1478

It was Bernard who had bargained with the heavens, offering his own life in exchange for Eleanor’s. And now, as fate would have it, the powers that be hadn’t taken his life but had instead snatched away Eleanor’s memories. A fair trade, he reassured himself, for she

had awakened.

Yet, despite his self-comforting thoughts, Bernard couldn’t suppress a bitter chuckle. It was as if the past decade had been nothing but a lavish pipe dream.

Gazing upon her gaunt, pale face and bloodshot eyes, and the rueful smile that played upon his lips, Eleanor’s heart constricted, tightening in discomfort. She thought it was a cardiac issue at first and pressed her hand to her chest. The odd pang faded quickly, and in that moment, Garrett took the opportunity to gently push aside her other hand.

“Eleanor, your husband’s back. You should chat with him; I’ll head off now and check in on you another day,” Garrett said, his voice light yet tinged with concern.

As Garrett turned to leave, Eleanor, gripped by a sudden anxiety, called out to him, “Garrett, don’t go. I don’t know him. Please don’t leave me alone; I’m scared.”

Those two words, “I’m scared,” hit Bernard like a hammer to the heart, deeply embedded and immobilizing. It felt as though a rugged nail was piercing through his heart’s chambers, unrelentingly claiming his life…

Bernard, who had been propped up against the hospital bed, finally lowered his heavy lashes to look at the fear-filled Eleanor beneath him. “You’re afraid of me?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Eleanor wasn’t afraid of him per se; it was the unfamiliarity that terrified her. But she didn’t know how to express this, so she chose silence, even directing a plea for help towards Garrett with her eyes.

whisper his name in her sleep. Now, witnessing

fingernails cut

up…

afraid of me,

then you

he spoke, tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Perhaps afraid of being seen in

anew. This time, the pain was clearly for Bernard. But she looked up at Garrett, whose face was

she was sure-she loved Garrett. Memories might fade, but

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regress, could they?

tell me what’s going on between

not something I can explain in a sentence or two. But you loved

for him now. I only feel that I love you. So,

wall, Bernard overheard this and felt his frail body tremble,

hadn’t even taken the time to put on his coat in his rush to see his wife and had run into the hospital through the snow. And now…