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

was also the chance the operation would fail, that complications

life short-to just

uterus entirely. She'd never have children of

own.

the best outcome, everything else

to carry.

told herself. Jarrod wasn't ready to

But with something as serious as this,

dangerous-for him

finished peeling the orange, he held out

open her mouth, and he simply waited,

to withdraw.

as if they were

Elodie let

a

heart and your

I hate to admit

as

was

love feels like

But a

the line things might not

don't want to

of one-sided

it's best

not willing to try with me?" he

orange segment to her lips. "Why

ask me if I

mouth as she finally

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

time, Jarrod met

you," he said,

His

as

pale, fragile face. He

in a way, he