How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

She turned her head, her gaze steady and calm. "If the surgery goes perfectly, if

the prognosis is good and they manage to remove all the tumor and cancer cells,

and if I can walk away whole-that would be the best-case scenario. But the truth

is, no one can make that promise."

Given how far her illness had progressed, and the earlier miscarriage that forced

her into surgery, it was clear she'd been through more than anyone should have

to bear.

"Jarrod, you really don't have to-"

"I reached out to some specialists in Europe," he interrupted, his voice low.

"They're working together to come up with the best possible treatment plan." He

turned away, grabbed an orange from the fruit bowl, and started peeling it with

careful, deliberate motions. He didn't look at her, focusing instead on removing

every strand of pith from each segment. If you looked closely, though, his hands

were trembling ever so slightly.

He'd cut her off before she could finish.

Elodie stared at him, silent. She didn't want to give him false hope-she wasn't

even sure what to hope for herself. No matter how she looked at it, the road

ahead was bleak.

In the best-case scenario, the surgery would be a success. She'd need regular

checkups, but her daily life and everything else would go back to normal. But

chance the operation

just two, maybe

they'd have to remove her uterus entirely.

own.

else was

to carry.

realistic, she told herself. Jarrod wasn't ready to face

as serious as this,

dangerous-for him and

orange, he held out

and he simply waited, hand suspended in the

to withdraw.

as if they were locked

Elodie let out a slow

there's a

heart and your

I hate to

see me as

mother was right about

feels like it

anything. But a few

the line things might not

don't want to

of one-sided situation, so

best

willing to try with me?" he said,

her lips. "Why not wait twenty,

ask me if

burst in her mouth as she finally accepted

straight in the eye, no pretense. "Is any part

first time, Jarrod

you," he said, his voice

His

pain as he looked

pale, fragile

in a way,